Heroes coming together - Aragorn_II_Elessar (2024)

Chapter 1: Prologue

Chapter Text

Earth-1, Central City, S.T.A.R. Labs

A small rip in the space opened up. But it didn't remain small for long. As each second passed, it grew larger in size, while everything shook, the rip seeming to pull things towards it.

Barry Allen was sitting up, still weakened from having been beaten up by Dr. Wel…..Thawne! Eobard Thawne!

He, his best friend Cisco Ramon and father figure Joe West all watched the widening rip in terror.

"Guys, that's not good!" Cisco explained.

Caitlin Snow was trying to awaken her unconscious fiancé Ronnie Raymond. "Professor, I shut down the wormhole. What's happening?"

"I don't know", Martin Stein confessed, the computer beeping while it showed the wormhole's status as 'unstable'. "You did close it, but it seems to be reopening."

Ronnie awoke and was helped up by Caitlin. "We got to go."

"You okay?"

Barry sped near his friend Iris West, who was leaning sadly near her fiancé Eddie Thawne's corpse, the man having killed himself to stop Eobard, as he was the Reverse Flash's ancestor, and his own death would mean Eobard Thawne never existing.

"Iris, we have to go", Barry told her.

"I'm not leaving him", Iris shook her head tearfully.

"We have to go now, honey", Joe implored, seeing the rip growing in size and sucking debris into it. "I'm sorry."

Joe pulled Iris away from Eddie's corpse, taking her away as Barry sped out, while the power of the rip sucked Eddie's body into it.

Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, Joe, Stein, Ronnie and Iris ran out of the S.T.A.R. Labs building, looking up at the huge wormhole that had now been formed in the sky and was pulling up a lot of debris. Not to mention it would soon start pulling in much more.

"So that's what we didn't want to happen", Cisco commented glumly.

"What's it doing?" Caitlin asked.

"Feeding", Stein explained. "A singularity won't stop, not even after the Earth is gone."

Barry looked around with wide eyes. Tires screeched as cars came to a stop, people screaming and running all around.

Soon, the singularity was pulling in cars as well, while the buildings shook, parts of them breaking. It was clear that if this wasn't stopped, the buildings would begin to collapse.

Leonard Snart aka Captain Cold watched the ever-widening singularity, taking off his goggles.

Elsewhere in the city, Kendra Saunders looked up at the singularity in terror.

Captain David Singh got out of his car, looking up at the wormhole.

Henry Allen was reading a book in his prison cell when he heard the sound made by the singularity, and looked out of the window.

Earth-2, Central City

Hunter Zolomon was running around, dressed up as the Flash, when there was a blinding flash of light, and the sky split open.

Hunter stopped at the top of a building, looking at the singularity with wide eyes, a smirk coming on his face.

His helmet with the wings on its side was pulled off of his head by the singularity's power, flying into the wormhole.

Middle-earth

Strider was on his way to the village of Bree to meet his friend, who was none other than the Wizard called Gandalf the Grey.

That was when his Ranger senses picked up the ground beneath him shaking. First, it was a mild shaking. Then, it got faster, and harder.

Soon enough, everything shook violently, and, to the Ranger's shock, the sky opened up, a giant blue hole in the sky appearing. He saw bits of the ground slowly flying into the hole, disappearing inside of it.

And within moments, more of the ground began to rise too, as well as some trees.

"What is this devilry?"

Mordor

From the top of his tower of Barad-Dur, The Eye of Sauron the former Dark Lord of Middle-earth watched the growing hole in the sky with interest.

The Great Eye pierced through the veil and witnessed a sigh both alien and alluring to the fallen Maia of Morgoth. So many worlds, so many powers, so much more for the Dark Lord to conquer. The campaign to regain his physical form would be challenging, but in the end, all shall kneel before Sauron.

Earth-199999, New York, Avengers Tower

Tony Stark was in his lab, designing a new suit for Steve Rogers. He had a projection of the old suit from the Battle of New York. "Oh, buddy, this thing did nothing for your ass."

Looking at it, he said. "We can keep the red, white, and blue, darken the blue, add Kevlar and more protection." He looked at a projection of the SHIELD suit. "This is good, but I can do better. Add a little something extra: electromagnetic panels in the arms to call back the shield." He chuckled. "Sometimes I amaze even myself."

Then Tony heard the door open and felt a familiar set of arms wrap around him as a redhead rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Having fun?"

"Now I am." Tony turned in his chair, wrapping his arms around Pepper as they shared a kiss. "How's my therapist?"

"Sleeping, again."

"I swear, if I wasn't such a fan, I'd fire him."

"Bruce isn't that kind of doctor."

"He has ears."

In that moment, everything suddenly shook, and as they looked out of the window, they saw the sky split open, a wormhole appearing.

"What in the…..?" Tony trailed off.

"Oh my God!" Pepper whispered herself.

"Jarvis, what am I looking at?"

"It appears to be a singularity, sir. With the amount of energy it has, it will consume the Earth, and more",Tony's loyal A.I. Jarvis said in reply.

Tony watched in utter horror, too shocked to even call one of his newly made suits to himself. This looked so much like the wormhole he had gone through to stop the Chitauri Army, and so, he just couldn't stop staring.

Hell's Kitchen

In his apartment, Matt Murdock heard the sky rip itself open, things slowly being pulled into it. His face grim, he wondered what was going on.

A galaxy far, far away, Coruscant

The Jedi Master known as Yoda was meditating in the meditation room when he sensed the wormhole opening.

His eyes immediately opened as well, while Mace Windu walked inside, looking concerned, having felt the same thing.

"There has been a massive disturbance in the Force."

"Disturbance, it is not", Yoda disagreed, as he felt the Force, and beyond. "A revelation, it is."

Serenno

Count Dooku knelt in front of a hologram of his master, the Sith Lord Darth Sidious.

"Master."

"There has been an awakening", Sidious said ominously.

Earth-92

Los Angeles

Angel was about to leave the city to find something to do, something that would help him process the death of Buffy Summers, his ex-girlfriend.

While he had started moving on from their relationship, part of him still loved her, and always would. Her death had hit him hard. He needed time off to grieve for her before he could come back.

Just as he reached the outskirts of the city, he saw the sky split open, the blue wormhole appearing, slowly sucking things into it.

"What the hell?" The Vampire with a soul muttered in utter horror at what he was witnessing. The Los Angeles sign was pulled from the ground next to him, and was sucked up into the hole in the sky.

Earth-21, Metropolis, LuthorCorp Tower

Tess Mercer walked in to see her now resurrected brother Lex Luthor sitting in the chair, facing the other way.

"Something told me that I'd find you here", Tess told him. "I combed the lab, and I saw what happened."

"Long time, sis", Lex turned around on the chair.

"Did youalwaysknow?" Tess asked the big question.

"Why do you think I recruited you, treated you as my own flesh and blood?" Lex asked back.

"Youusedme", Tess snarled.

"Semantics", Lex shrugged. "I'd say dear old dad did most of the abusing." He got up, walking towards Tess. "Wouldn't you? I guess the bullet in his chest answers that question, huh?"

"He wanted nothing more than to have you back again", Tess replied, walking closer to Lex.

"And what didyouwant, Tess?" Lex inquired out of curiosity.

"Something I'll never have", Tess said.

"Clark?"

Tess looked down, then back up at Lex.

"Redemption."

Lex raised his hand, as if to stroke her face, when suddenly the glass shattered, Lex turning around, both of them horrified to see that not only was the sky red, but a blue wormhole had appeared out of nowhere, and was starting to suck things in.

"Huh?" Lex muttered, when Tess saw he'd been about to pull a small sword. Clearly to stab her.

Taking the opportunity, Tess grabbed his arm, and as he turned around, she punched his face twice, making him stagger back while he grabbed her by the throat, not letting go.

Grunting, Tess kneed Lex in the gut, winding him as he doubled over, and Tess rushed off quickly, saving her life.

Earth-205

The brothers Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester were driving on the road in the former's Impala that he affectionately called 'Baby'.

It was silent, and both were tense, for it was less than a week before Dean's deadline would be up, and he'd have to pay his end of the deal that he had made to bring Sam back to life.

So far, they had found no way to save him.

As they continued driving, they saw the sky opening up, a wormhole appearing, sucking things in slowly.

"What's that?" Sam asked in horror.

Dean muttered. "Well, this could be a problem."

Earth-1, Central City

"I'm afraid the accretion disc has already assembled", Stein said as he looked up at the wormhole.

"What?" Joe asked, not getting it.

"The diffuse material that's in orbital motion around the singularity", Stein explained.

"What does that mean?" Caitlin asked.

"We have to disrupt the motion!" Barry said, finally getting it. "Basically it's just like the tornado, only upside down. And bigger. And scarier."

"Barry." Barry turned to look at Stein. "That event has an energy level of at least 6.7 Tera Electron Volts. It cannot be stopped."

Barry looked at him and the rest, shaking his head in determination. "I have to try."

Stein looked back at him, while Barry looked at his entire team, nodding with a slight smile before pulling down his cowl to cover the upper half of his face.

He looked up at the singularity with determination, lightning cracking in his eyes, before he started running.

Barry ran through the streets of the city until he was directly under the singularity, and using his momentum, leapt upwards, now using the debris being sucked in to help himself further up, until he was running up a breaking building.

From the window of his cell, Henry could make out the lightning streak that was his son running up the building towards the Singularity.

"Oh, God. Barry."

Barry dodged some parts of the breaking building, and leapt upwards, finally reaching the Singularity as he circled around its outer area, then running upon the pieces of debris, ran further inside to try and stop it from there.

Chapter 2: Aftermath

Chapter Text

Earth-1, Gotham City, Wayne Tower

Alfred Pennyworth carried a tray with food out onto a table, hoping to see Bruce Wayne. Only, he didn't see him anywhere.

He sighed, knowing exactly where Bruce was.

While he was happy internally that Bruce was trying a different way, the young man was still obsessive about his night-time activities. He just hoped someone could pull him out of that mindset before it was too late.

The flood had finally been cleared from the city a few weeks ago, after months of the city's people coming together. Batman was a symbol of hope now. And Bruce Wayne was quite well-liked too, seeing as to how he had helped the recovery efforts by using his money.

But right now, Alfred did not see any hope of getting Bruce to take a step back from being Batman and relax a little.

A while later, Alfred stepped out onto the terminal, seeing Bruce in his suit sans mask, glued to all of the computers, looking at reports of the Singularity that had just closed, with some footage of it being shown.

"It has been a while since I've seen you like this, Bruce", Alfred noted, a sense of unease in him. He was always concerned whenever Bruce got too obsessed with the mission, like he was being right now.

"This wormhole above Central City, it has me worried", Bruce confessed, turning to his butler. "I feel like…it is a prelude."

"Prelude to what?"

"Something much worse than anything we've seen, including the flood", Bruce confessed. "For now, the computers shall try to detect energy similar to that wormhole."

"And then?"

"Then we will just have to see what happens next, and be ready for it."

John Constantine sat in front of his scrying map, looking grim. He had sensed the Singularity with his powers, and it had him concerned over what the future held.

"What happens next, well, I better not get a front row seat to it."

Earth-199999, Korean Peninsula

A guide was leading a masked man and a heavily garbed man behind him towards something, the three stopping near a wall. "What you seek is close."

He wiped the dust off the wall, revealing some kind of ancient marking.

"Very well, lead on then", the masked follower urged calmly, the guide nodding as he continued forth, the trio passing between two lengthy walls, until they came out in front of two big doors.

The guide pushed both the doors open, and the three walked inside, finding themselves surrounded by many statues.

But it was the thing at the center of the temple that had their attention.

A glowing red jewel, radiating power from where it was placed. The trio could tell it was something powerful just by looking at it.

"What exactly is that?" The guide asked.

At that moment, the masked follower unveiled his face, revealing himself to be an old man with a clean shaven face. "The answer, my less evolved friend."

The heavily garbed man suddenly grabbed the guide's neck from behind, and snapped it, killing him as his body dropped to the ground.

Then he unveiled himself too, revealing himself to be a bald, muscular man. The two walked towards the Gem, looking at it and each other.

"You really think this will get your powers back, Erik?" The muscular man inquired out of curiosity.

"No, Mr. Marko, I believe it will do so much more."

Erik Lensherr reached out to grab it when the Gem lit up, illuminating the whole temple, before a wave spread out from the Gem, sending both men hurtling to the floor, the red energy leaking through their bodies and lighting up their skin.

Juggernaut convulsed, his whole body shaking as he felt the muscles and bones tear apart, and he begins to grow in size, soon reaching over 8 feet, red armor attaching onto his body, made from the remains of the table, before a domed helmet took form around his head, his eyes lighting up red while he unleashed a roar that shook the temple.

Magneto was unmoving during this time, unconscious as the red light faded from his body. By the time Juggernaut's transformation was complete, Erik's finger twitched, and red electricity sparked from his hand, and then his eyes opened, glowing red.

New York Sanctum

The Ancient One was using the Eye while she looked at the Orb of Agamotto, her expression very grim. She knew exactly what the Singularity was, and what its consequences were going to be.

Fate had changed, and now a new course had been set for her, as well as for Strange.

Wong walked up next to her, silent, while she said. "The ink that has dried is now gone. The destiny of what once was, has now changed."

Space, The Sanctuary

Thanos sat on his chair, the detectors in the ship having sensed the Singularity above Earth. The Other stood close to him.

The eyes of the Mad Titan looked determined. "I believed myself ready to gather the Stones and balance the universe. Now, I ponder whether that is true."

"But sire, you are the most powerful being in the Universe."

"I would like to believe that, yet I cannot help doubt such a thing. I have little to fear from the defenders of Earth, what gives me pause is something...more. Hmm, perhaps it is time for a...change?"

"My lord?"

"To ensure the balance and prosperity of the future of the Universe, I will need to be ready. No matter the cost."

A Galaxy far, far away, Coruscant

"I believe you felt the change as well, didn't you, Anakin?" Obi-Wan Kenobi asked Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker.

"I did, Master", Anakin confessed. "I believe all of us did."

Obi-Wan nodded, as Anakin sighed. "I have to say though, what I felt, it was almost like when I forced down the Son and the Daughter back at Mortis. It was like the Force called for me, and I felt...everything."

"Is that true?" Obi-Wan asked in shock, Anakin nodding. "That can only mean there is a lot more to this than what we know right now."

"Not just that, I think I heard Master Qui-Gon's voice", Anakin admitted. "I'm not sure what he was saying though. But it was him."

"Only time will provide answers to our questions, Anakin", Obi-Wan said, the two grimly looking out of the window.

Middle-Earth, Bree

Strider sat at a table, the Wizard Gandalf sitting in front of him.

"The Rangers have doubled their watch as you instructed", Strider informed Gandalf before asking. "Is it still safe?"

"Yes, for the time being", Gandalf assured Strider, before inhaling from his pipe, then exhaling, letting some smoke out. "The enemy does not yet know that the Ring has been found."

"That is well", Strider noted.

"The matter is more complicated", Gandalf warned. "I have made a grave error, I overlooked something important, something dangerous." Seeing he had Strider's full attention, Gandalf revealed what he spoke of. "It concerns the former owner of the Ring."

Strider knew who that was. "Gollum."

Gandalf continued. "How he came by it, I do not know but he's murderously protective of it; and now, he has left his cave, his mind bent on recovering it."

Strider asked the important question. "Gollum knows, doesn't he Gandalf?" There was a pause, Gandalf staring at Strider. "He knows the location of the Ring?"

"Yes", the Wizard nodded sadly, letting out some more smoke. "Unfortunately our secret is no longer safe, the foolish Hobbit revealed his name."

Strider insisted. "It should have been destroyed."

"But it was not", Gandalf pointed out.

The flame of decision formed in Strider's eyes. "I will go. I will find him."

Gandalf smiled. While the Man did not want to have to do anything with his heritage, he showed the same courage and resilience that his ancestors always had. "Thank you, Aragorn." Strider looked at Gandalf in full attention, especially since his real name had been used.

The Wizard warned. "The road will not be easy, but you have the foresight of your people. If you can't find him... no one can."

Strider nodded, before asking the other question in his mind. "Before I arrived at Bree, I saw something…strange."

Gandalf raised an eyebrow.

"The sky was torn open, and the power pulled in trees, and pieces of the ground. It did not last long. What do you think of that?"

Gandalf looked grim. "I did sense that myself. However, even I cannot tell what it was."

Now Strider's expression matched Gandalf's. If even the Grey Wizard did not have answers about this, who would?

"However", Gandalf began. "I'd suggest we choose to do what we can with the time given to us. And right now, hunting Gollum should be what we must do."

Strider knew Gandalf was right. As much as they all wanted to know more about the tear in the sky, the rise of Sauron was the more immediate threat. And so, hunting Gollum was the priority.

"I shall find him", Strider said firmly, before taking leave of Gandalf.

Isengard, Tower of Orthanc

Saruman the White looked down from the Tower, having sensed the tear in the sky himself. Like Gandalf, he too did not know what it truly was.

And not having answers always irked him. The power from it had been great, familiar even, but he did not know why.

However, he would find out. It was time to look into Palantír once more.

Universe-92, Senior Partners' Dimension

The Wolf, the Ram and the Hart had seen the Singularity above the Earth, and knowing what it entailed, it had them concerned.

"It was a portal from another world. But I sense it is not the last of its kind."

"I sense it too. There are many out there still, waiting to be discovered."

"Shall we send out people to investigate?"

"No, we do not know what might lie on the other side."

"So, shall we do nothing?"

"No, we shall wait, and see what this truly means, before thinking of our move."

Earth-205, Lawrence, Kansas

Dean and Sam walked out of the house of Missouri Moseley, the psychic walking behind them, the boys looking disappointed.

"Sorry boys, I wish I could help you with this, but I can't", Missouri shook her head regretfully.

"Its fine", Dean shrugged. "You tried."

"What now?" Sam wondered sadly, before remembering. "Also, while we were coming here, we saw some kind of tear in the sky. You know anything about that?"

"No, not really", Missouri said, Sam looking disappointed. "But I did feel something in the mystical side. There has been a change…in everything."

"What kind?" Dean asked.

"Well, all I can say is- Lilith might not be your biggest problem."

And that scared the brothers.

Earth-21, Metropolis, Watchtower

Apokolips had been pushed away, and Darkseid had been defeated for now, but the League was not feeling victorious.

Except Lois, all of them were gathered there, Clark and Tess having revealed about the survival of Lex to everyone.

"But….how?" Oliver Queen wondered. "I had killed him back then!"

"Lionel, the other one", Clark said. "Darkseid was possessing him. I think they made a deal, and that brought Lex back."

"He'd have killed me", Tess confessed, looking at her laptop. "And looks like he has already fired me from his company."

"How was he able to do that if he just came back to life today?" Emil wondered.

"Its Lex. He would have placed some contingencies around in case he had to fake his death", Tess pointed out. "To make sure anyone he didn't want in the company would be thrown out once he came back, and he could take over easily. Since he came back to life now, he is doing it just like that."

She shrugged. "Well, I was gonna resign anyway with him back."

"How did you escape?" Oliver asked Tess.

"Yeah…." Tess remembered. "There was some kind of…..wormhole. It shattered the windows and distracted him. That's how I escaped."

"That?" Oliver wondered. "Yeah, I saw it too." He turned to Clark. "It was there when you were pushing Apokolips away. Then it just disappeared."

"A wormhole?" Clark asked in surprise. "So, we take care of one problem, another takes its place."

"I did not see that when I wore the Helmet of Fate", Chloe confessed. "So, this is going to be new territory. We don't even know what it is."

"All that on top of Lex coming back", Oliver groaned. "And I'm sure after today, people all over the world will know aliens are a thing."

"Whatever that wormhole means, we'll have to be ready for it", Clark said firmly, looking every bit the hero that everyone knew he was. "Lex, the wormhole, people knowing about aliens, we will face them when they come."

And when he spoke, they all felt hope, that whatever came their way, they would survive it, and save everyone.

Chapter 3: Crossing over

Chapter Text

Earth-1, Gotham City

It was night-time, and Batman stood on a rooftop, patrolling the city like he did every night. He had stopped a few muggings, and one robbery attempt.

To his surprise, some of the victims of the attempted muggings had thanked him. A far cry from when the man he had saved had begged him to not hurt him.

Perhaps he was succeeding in the new approach that he was trying.

That moment, he sensed something behind him. Some kind of movement. On-guard immediately, Batman turned around, and he was shocked by what he saw.

The air seemed to ripple and distort, and some kind of blue energy appeared, before a man appeared, seeming to step out of it. No, not a man. He had contortions across his face, yellow eyes, and two elongated canines, while he was growling like an animal.

And he looked very angry, almost crazy, as he stared at Batman.

"Who are you?" Batman said, preparing himself to fight this thing. Because it was clearly not a human of any kind.

In response, the creature just growled louder. "Shouldn't have come in my way."

And then, he charged at a speed that was beyond normal, Batman trying to block, but he was hit on the chest and sent flying back, rolling on the ground.

The creature lunged at him again, trying to crush him with his foot, but Batman rolled away to avoid, getting up with a flip as he kicked the creature, making him stagger back.

Spinning, Batman kicked his face again, making him fall down. But there, he kicked Batman's feet from underneath him, dropping him as well.

He was about to get up and leap onto Batman, but the Caped Crusader took out his grapple gun, aiming at a taller building nearby, and fired, striking it, this making the creature turn in that direction.

Batman quickly leapt up and jumped, swinging away, only for the creature to leap after him and grab him by the feet.

The sudden jerk in movement caused the grapple gun to loosen, as both plummeted towards the ground, crashing into a wooden beam on the way, breaking it on impact, as both fell down, the creature below Batman.

It grabbed him by the throat, growling, but Batman elbowed his neck, making him let go, and rolled away, just as a large splinter of wood fell down, its pointed end going into the creature's chest as it growled and got back up to fight some more.

But then, in front of Batman's shocked eyes, the fanged creature turned to dust, leaving nothing behind, while the splinter of wood fell down to the ground with a 'clatter'.

Usually, he had a very calm façade but right now, Batman was nothing short of stunned.

Earth-199999, New York City

Wong and another Mystic known as Miro faced a giant monstrous dark green creature that wore armor and had a large sword in its hand. It was fifteen feet tall, and had orange eyes.

With a roar, it kicked an empty car towards Miro. Miro put his arms in front of his head, mystic symbols appearing around his body as he glowed with Eldritch energy.

The car struck him and exploded, but he was unharmed due to having used the Eldritch energy to form the mystical armor around him, and increase his physical stats.

Rushing forwards, Miro punched the ground, forming an Eldritch symbol briefly as the area around him glowed, and then a giant crack in the ground appeared, spreading towards where the creature stood, until it was underneath it directly.

And then a blast of energy struck the creature from below, making it howl in pain as it was sent flying off and falling to the ground, scorched badly all over.

It was too weak to fight now. Taking the opportunity, Wong aimed his hands at the wounded creature, Eldritch symbols surrounding it all over as it fell into one of the blue breaches that opened up, and then sealed itself.

"These barriers are becoming more frequent", Miro noted grimly.

"That they are, my friend", Wong sighed. "This situation is not as simple as I had believed earlier."

Earth-205

"Yeah, well, let's keep it that way", Dean was telling Sam in the Impala after being assured that Sam wasn't using his Demonic powers anymore.

Sam's expression was broody, so he quickly took out a notepad, opening a page that had a crude drawing of the wormhole on it.

Dean's glance fell on it briefly as he looked at it, then turned back to the road. "Now what's that, Sammy?"

"Remember the wormhole we saw that day?" Sam reminded. "I'm trying to find out what it is, alongside everything else. Though from what I've figured out, it was more of a scientific thing than a mystic thing."

"Don't think we should be focusing on that anyways", Dean shrugged.

"Well, Missouri did say that Lilith won't be our worst problem anymore", Sam pointed out. "You think all this is connected with the wormhole?"

Dean looked ahead at the road. "I guess we're about to find out."

Earth-21, Smallville

Oliver Queen and his wife Chloe Sullivan-Queen were walking through the fields in search of the missing ship.

As they ended up in a small area between the fields, Chloe said. "We need to split up."

"Why?"

"Because we're being followed."

"You noticed, huh? Didn't want to worry you."

They split up, going into different directions through the dense fields.

"Love you."

"Love you too."

Oliver didn't have to go far. Within moments, he found their stalker, looking the other way, wearing a suit and a helmet.

He shone his light on the person while aiming a crossbow. "From the looks of those boots, you're the huntee and not the hunter. You know you're being followed, right?"

The figure turned to look at Oliver, his reflection shown in the helmet as he asked. "Why is my name on your ship?"

The figure lunged with a kick. "Because your wife built it for me!"

Oliver grasped the figure's leg, blocking the kick, and tried to punch back, only for his wrist to be grasped. "Nice moves."

The figure freed their leg, Oliver freeing his wrist before he punched the figure with his other fist, staggering the person back. "Have we danced this dance before?"

"Not on this Earth!"

"Did you just say-"

At that moment, the figure did a flip and kicked Oliver's abdomen, sending him flying back and falling down. Before he could get up, the figure Oliver down with a boot.

"Where's Clark Kent?"

"Everyone from Space always comes here looking for that lug. It never ends well."

"Wrong answer", the figure snarled.

BANG!

The figure gasped, a bullet having passed through their shoulder as they grasped it in pain, staggering away and kneeling down.

Chloe had come, and she was rushing towards the figure who yelled. "NO!"

Chloe made to take off the person's helmet.

"STAY BACK!"

And then, there was an explosion from the helmet which sent Chloe flying back, and the figure flew back too.

"Chloe!" Oliver yelled, getting up as he rushed after her. Reaching near her, he helped her up. "Come on."

At that moment, they heard something and turned around to see some kind of red energy in the area where the mysterious figure had fallen.

They rushed to the area, Oliver yelling. "What the-"

The two found the figure, lying on the ground, smoke emanating from their chest, while a giant silhouette was seen in the distance, walking away.

"Our visitor's over here", Oliver said, looking down as he knelt to the person. "Don't move, you're hurt. Let's get that helmet off."

And then he took it off.

"You're…" Chloe trailed off, she and her husband staring at the person's face in shock. "You're me!"

The person looked just like Chloe, except her hair were black, and her mouth was bleeding.

"Earth…the other Earth!" The other Chloe coughed out.

Oliver knew what she was talking about. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Its gone!" She said. And then next moment, she was gone too.

"Oh no!" Chloe said, her eyes wide, as she and Oliver stared at each other.

At that moment, they heard something, and turned around to see some kind of blue energy, out of which a Chinese woman with blonde hair stepped out, wearing a prison uniform for some reason, a knife in her hand.

"What in the…?" Oliver said as he got up, while the woman looked at them like they were a threat as well.

"Who are you two?" She snarled, holding out her knife, before she looked at Oliver. "And you are dressed in an Arrow cosplay costume, hmmm."

"Its not cosplay, lady, I'm the real deal", Oliver told her as Chloe aimed her guns.

"How did I get here?" The woman wondered, looking around.

"Stand down", Chloe warned, only for the woman to give a smirk as she hurled the knife.

Oliver and Chloe both jumped away to avoid, as Chloe started firing, but the woman was fast, and she rolled on the ground, avoiding the shots herself before she flipped, and doing a cartwheel, came close to Chloe, kicking the guns out of her hand.

Flipping again, the woman straightened herself. Chloe threw a punch but the woman blocked, then spun and elbowed her face, staggering her back, before sweeping her feet from underneath her.

Sensing something behind her, the woman turned around, but was a second too late as Oliver whacked her face with his bow, turning her head the other way, then kneed her gut, winding her, before leaping as he wrapped her head between his feet and flipped her down.

He got up first, but the woman did a reverse flip and kicked his face, making him fall down while she got back up, and then she sent two punches to his chest, before spinning and kicking him on the side, making him fall down and drop his bow as well.

Chloe was back up and she grabbed the woman in a chokehold, both of them struggling, before the woman elbowed Chloe's side twice, making her loosen her grip, and then grasping Chloe's arm, she flipped her to the ground.

Looking at the downed Oliver, she said. "You are clearly not the real deal."

"Really?" Oliver smirked, when she suddenly saw his crossbow was held out, and he fired at that moment.

The shot was too fast, and the arrow struck her on the shoulder, but it had some thing like pincers on it, so it didn't pierce her, but grabbed onto her shoulder.

And then, an electric shock was sent through her body, making her spasm violently before she was knocked out, falling to the ground.

Getting up, Oliver quipped. "As you can see, I am the real deal."

He helped Chloe up as both looked at the knocked-out woman, the latter wondering. "Now where did she come from?"

Earth-1, Gotham City

Bruce was sitting, still in his suit, except the mask, Alfred looking at him in shock.

"He just….turned to dust?"

"Yes, he did."

"From a wooden splinter?"

"Yeah!"

"And he had fangs?"

"Yes!"

"He sounds like a Vampire to me, Bruce", Alfred confessed.

"There is no such thing", Bruce shook his head, denying it.

"There were many things we thought impossible before, Bruce", Alfred pointed out. "Like meta-humans."

Bruce sighed, knowing Alfred had a point, though, Vampires, that was still new.

"When he appeared, there some kind of energy around him", Bruce remembered. "It looked like a type of portal."

He looked at Alfred. "It looked a lot like the wormhole above Central City all those months ago."

Alfred looked thoughtful. "You believe there is a connection?"

"I think there has to be", Bruce said, standing up as he walked away. "I did manage to record what the wormhole's energy was like. The tracker is still being made, but it would be able to detect similar energy once its ready, then we'll figure it out."

Earth-92, Los Angeles, Caritas

"We were in the train, I was fighting him, and then he disappears in this blue energy", Angel was explaining to Lorne. "And I've no idea how that even happened."

"This is definitely new, Angel-cakes", Lorne had to agree as well.

"It looked a lot like the wormhole I'd seen when leaving this city a few months ago", Angel revealed. "I'm sure there's a connection."

"I am sure there is too, but its best to find out more before jumping into this."

"Maybe I could sing, and you can read me and figure it out", Angel offered.

But Lorne immediately shook his head. "Not happening, puppy eyes. I heard more Barry Manilow than I ever would have wanted in my life, I couldn't get any picture the first time, nor the next twenty-two times. Make it twenty-three, and the fortune teller will go out of business. Now, Seabreeze?" Lorne offered Angel the drink, who took it with a dumbstruck expression.

Earth-199999, The Bus

"Its been weeks, and there's nothing!" Alec Hardison snapped as he looked up from his computer at Phil Coulson, who looked at him calmly.

"I understand your frustrations, Mr. Hardison", Coulson assured him. "But we have many things we need to do. We have tried to look for your friend to the best of our ability. None of our leads have turned up anything."

Hardison sighed, calming down a bit, as Melinda walked up next to him. "I know what you're feeling. He is my friend too, has been for a long time. I want to find him as much as you do."

"This is just getting weirder", Mack had to say. "This guy disappears completely, and then that thing comes in the middle of the Bus out of nowhere from that blue energy and attacks."

The group groaned, remembering what had happened earlier in the day. A bluish energy had appeared in the middle of the Bus and a gnarly, disgusting creature, with weird ears and poorly forged armor with a sword had stepped out of it, speaking in a scary, guttural tone.

It had tried to attack them on sight but Melinda had subdued it, and now it was in a cell.

"You know", Skye said at that moment. "That blue energy, it looked a lot like that wormhole above New York from a few months ago."

"Huh?" Hardison's eyes widened. "You've a point, they look very much alike, at least the energy of those."

"Are you saying…." Coulson trailed off.

"If this creature came out of one, maybe Eliot disappeared in one", Melinda finished, the group sharing a look.

"That makes sense", Tripp noted.

"Looks like joining you all in trying to find him was not a waste of time after all", Hardison said cheerfully.

"Like I said, he is my friend too, I'd do anything to find him", May assured Hardison, while sharing a look with Coulson.

A while ago, May had told Coulson that Eliot was the only person who knew her as well as Coulson did. That told Coulson everything he needed to know.

"I have a record of that thing's energy on my system", Hardison explained. "I could try to track it nearby, see if there's more of it other than that thing in the middle of the Bus, which for some reason, can't be traced anymore."

He typed for a while, and then the computer beeped. "Oh boy!"

"What is it?" Skye inquired.

"There is one, right in the sky", Hardison revealed. "Just below us."

They looked at the coordinates, seeing he was right.

"Well then, I think we should send someone through for a bit to investigate", Coulson immediately said.

"I'll go", Hardison volunteered.

"I do not doubt your capabilities", Coulson assured the man. "But you are too close to the situation. I need a clear head here."

"I'll go then", May said.

"No", Coulson shook his head. "You are close to this situation as well."

May looked like she was going to argue, but then decided against it. Because Coulson was right. She was too close to the situation, which usually didn't happen.

"I can do it", Mack offered.

"Oh no, you're good, but I have someone else in mind", Coulson confessed.

"Me?" Tripp asked but Coulson shook his head.

"Is it Parker?" Hardison inquired.

"No Mr. Hardison, she is great at what she does, but she is as close to the situation as you are", Coulson pointed out. "Its someone I know. But where is Parker anyways?"

"Dealing in her own way", Hardison said. "But she'll come."

New York City

In a museum, stood Parker, looking at a diamond and some other artefacts here and there, imagining how she could steal them.

She wasn't actually going to steal anything. Nowadays, she only committed theft when it was part of a con. But imagining various scenarios to steal things from a museum was her way of coping with the disappearance of her friend, Eliot.

Hardison was trying to track him with some people from SHIELD, as Eliot had a friend there who was willing to get her team to help.

She just hoped something happened soon. But anyways, she figured she had coped enough, it was time to go back to Hardison, so them and the SHIELD Team could look for Eliot together.

Getting up, she walked out of the museum, taking an alley, as she saw a teenage girl, about 15, walking towards her. The girl had blonde hair, just like hers.

As they passed, the girl bumped into her. "Sorry."

Parker smirked, turning around as she grasped the girl's shoulder. "I think you took something from me."

"What?" The girl turned around, feigning ignorance.

Parker smirked as she put a hand in the girl's pocket, taking out her phone from it, the girl's jaw dropping.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I-"

"You have potential, but clearly, you're an amateur", Parker commented as she put the phone back inside. "See, you're not being careful while taking something directly from a pocket. You need to grasp it lightly, but not too light, make sure there is a very slight movement that's not even felt, and then take it. All of this very quick."

And then Parker held up a pouch in her hand, making the girl's jaw drop, as the thing had been in her pocket.

"Like this", Parker said, opening the pouch to see an apple. "Huh?" She took a bite out, and then tossed it back to the girl, who caught it.

"Wow, you're really good at this."

"No", Parker shook her head. "I'm the best."

"Would you teach me?" The girl inquired.

"Maybe one day", Parker shrugged. "You can tell me your name, then I'll know where to find you."

"I'm Felicia", the girl introduced herself. "Felicia Hardy."

Parker held out her hand. "Parker."

Felicia and Parker shook hands, before dropping them as Felicia flashed a smile, and turning around walked away, Parker walking off too.

"Felicia!"

Felicia stopped in her tracks. "Yes?"

"I know you took my phone again."

Felicia turned around sheepishly, holding the phone out, as Parker took it back, then walked off.

She knew what she was gonna do once Eliot had been found.

Earth-21, Metropolis, LexCorp

Clark in his Superman suit had come to talk to Lex after the entire mess with Commander Hank Henshaw, when he saw a monitor nearby saying 'Calibration Complete'.

Turning towards it curiously, Clark saw it was a virtual projection of the building and asked. "Keeping an eye on your own building?"

He could see a red dot at one point, when Lex revealed. "It would seem that the isotope that LexCorp was using to power the Guardian platform left quite the residual trail of radiation when the power cell ruptured."

Clark's eyes widened in horror as the implications sunk in, while Lex continued. "Only now have we discovered that it has quite a half-life."

"That's….that's me!" Clark said in shock about the red dot, which was the spot where he stood in the Lexcorp building.

"Don't fret, Clark", Lex assured him. "The radiation doesn't pose a physical threat to anyone around you, hence my intimate proximity. And unfortunately, anyone with the right kind of satellite will be able to follow your every movement for at least the next 500 years or so."

Clark clenched his fists angrily. "The launch…the accident, it was all about me?"

"For future reference, you might want to be careful about who you piss off, Clark", Lex shrugged. "Or should I call you Superman?"

"You have no right to track me", Clark sneered.

"Don't I?" Lex asked as he turned around, walking away. "The scary thing about the Gods, the Old and the New, is that they came and went as they pleased."

"I'm not a God", Clark denied.

"Showing up seemingly at random to save or exact judgment sounds awfully God-like to me", Lex shrugged, before looking at Clark. "So no, you don't have the right." He smirked. "Feel free to go about your own business."

As Clark stared, Lex added. "And if it interferes with my business, I will tell everyone who you are, this tracker shall prove it, and I'd already have covered my tracks, so no one would ever believe that the accident was because of me." He smirked.

Clark looked angry. Now Lex could expose his identity at any time he wanted. He didn't trust that Lex would keep his word, and could even reveal his secret while he was with those he loved, which would bring them under unwanted crossfire.

"This isn't over Lex", Clark snarled, then flew off.

"Good", Lex shrugged, before walking to his computer and typing some things in. A virtual projection of the Singularity from all those months ago appeared, while he started typing in more, going through some stuff.

"Let's see where you shall lead me."

Watchtower

Oliver and Chloe were still shaken up by the death of the latter's doppelganger, but right now, they stared at the Chinese woman who was temporarily contained in a cell, Tess and Emil next to them.

"She says she doesn't know anything", Tess told Oliver and Chloe. "She was in her cell at Iron Heights, having taken a knife from another inmate, and was fighting a guard, then she was suddenly in the field."

"What do Iron Heights have to say about it?" Chloe inquired.

"We looked, there is no record of her in there", Emil revealed, only shocking them more.

"That's weird", Oliver muttered as they looked at the woman. "Who are you?"

"The one who'll kill you after getting out of here", the woman sneered.

"Wait!" Oliver remembered something. "She appeared in the field from some blue portal."

"And?" Tess inquired.

"The wormhole, it looked a lot like the portal thing", Oliver said as he looked at the rest of them.

"Maybe, the wormhole did something", Chloe realized. "And like the other me, she came from another Earth."

"You think she'd know more about this Crisis then?" Emil asked.

"Nah, I think this is a different situation from the Crisis", Oliver said with folded arms. "And its just as bad."

He sighed. "Anyways, let's hand her over to the authorities, then figure out what to do."

Middle-earth

Aragorn was walking through a forest in the night.

After setting out to find the creature, Aragorn had met a Ranger named Arithir who'd told him rumors about a creature that had been stealing fishes from open windows in local villages.

After parting ways with Arithir, Aragorn had killed a pair of Orc Scouts, then found Gollum near a fish pond eventually, managing to capture him in a snare trap. Securing him inside a sack, Aragorn had made towards Mirkwood, briefly avoiding a Nazgûl. At night, he had been attacked by an Orc Squad, and had defeated them.

During that time, he had noticed something strange- one of the Orcs had disappeared into some form of blue sorcery, never to be seen again. It resembled the tear in the sky he had seen before.

At the end of the fight, he had been hit by a poison dart before dispatching the last attacker. He'd fallen besides a batch of Athelas flowers, and had a vision of his love Arwen, in which both were in Rivendell.

On waking up, he'd discovered that Gollum had escaped, and had tracked him well into the night. Finding him cowering on the top of a tree, Aragorn had been attacked by a Nazgûl. They'd a short but intense duel, when the Elves of Mirkwood had come, their bright light making it flee, while they'd recaptured Gollum.

Gandalf had interrogated him, and found out that Gollum knew of Bilbo Baggins and The Shire, so now he needed to go and warn Frodo Baggins.

The two had agreed to send Frodo in Bree as quickly as he could come, Aragorn also telling Gandalf about the Orc disappearing the blue sorcery that resembled the tear in the sky, concerning the Wizard, who'd assured Aragorn he'd look into. After that, they had parted ways.

While walking through the forests, Aragorn suddenly smelt something different in the air. Concerned, he followed the cause, until the smell got stronger, and at that moment, the accursed blue sorcery appeared, Aragorn falling straight into it, his shock preventing him from screaming.

As he fell through it, he saw many things- someone wearing some kind of red and blue fabric around him, using a strange rope coming out of his wrist to swing, a white symbol looking like a spider on his chest.

Then he saw a young boy, barely an adult, whose eyes turned red while his teeth turned wolf-like, and he seemed to howl.

After that, he saw a man whose eyes seemed hollowed-out, his skin pale, and his face matted with scars. His hair were long and pale as well, while he carried two swords.

Next, he saw a man dressed in all-black armor, including a cape and a mask, leaping from a rooftop, while the cape fluttered, making him look like a bat, with a symbol like a bat on his chest as well.

His next sight was of a tall man with brown eyes and dark brown hair, whose eyes seemed to glow with lightning.

And then, he saw a woman who battled a creature with fangs, striking the creature's chest with a wooden stake, and the creature howled as it died.

After that, he saw a young man with pale skin and long hair more unkempt than his own, wearing only a white shirt and faded blue trousers, or at least that was what they looked like. He sat in a very strange manner as well.

Next, he saw a man who had the top of his hair tied in a bun, his entire body very muscular, his throat bluish.

And lastly, Aragorn saw a tall man wearing some kind of strange yellow helmet on his face, a long machete in his hand.

That was when Aragorn hit the ground, gasping as he felt the hard road. Picking himself up, Aragorn looked around, finding a strange sight.

There were tall buildings all around, taller than anything he had seen, and huge windows all of them. Walking out of the alley, he saw strange chariots running by, none of them requiring any horses to pull them, while people walked here and there, paying each other no mind. The entire area was full of many people.

There was a strange tall object, which produced light, at the side of the road where the strange chariots ran.

"Where am I?" Aragorn asked in horror.

Earth-205

Dean was sitting on a table in a warehouse with Bobby Singer.

Both were swinging their legs, looking bored.

"You sure you did the ritual right?"

Bobby gave Dean a look. "Sorry. Touchy, touchy, huh?"

As if on cue, a loud rattling shook the roof. Dean and Bobby armed themselves with shotguns and took positions at the far end of the warehouse.

"Wishful thinking, but maybe it's just the wind", Dean shrugged.

The door burst open and a handsome man in a business suit and trenchcoat stalked in. Bobby and Dean both knew that this had to be Castiel.

The light bulbs above his head shattered in a shower of sparks as he passed them. As he approached, Dean and Bobby both opened fire, but the shots did not even slow him down.

Dean took the magic knife as Castiel got close. "Who are you?"

Castiel spoke to him. "I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition."

"Yeah. Thanks for that." Dean reared back and plunged the magic knife into Castiel's chest. It hit his heart without any effects.

Castiel looked down, unconcerned, and pulled it out, dropping it to the floor. Behind him, Bobby attacked; without looking, Castiel grabbed Bobby's weapon and used it to swing him around.

Castiel touched Bobby on the forehead with his fingertips and Bobby crumpled to the ground.

He turned to Dean. "We need to talk, Dean. Alone."

Dean crouched over Bobby, checking his pulse. He glared at Castiel.

"Your friend's alive."

"Who are you?"

"Castiel."

"Yeah, I figured that much, I mean what are you?" Dean asked the real question.

"I'm an Angel of the Lord."

After a moment of silence, Dean said in disbelief. "Get the hell out of here. There's no such thing."

"This is your problem, Dean. You have no faith", Castiel told him.

Lightning flashed, and on Castiel's back in his silhouette, great shadowy wings appeared, stretching off into the distance. Dean was nothing short of shocked.

The light went out and the image disappeared.

"Some Angel you are", Dean snarled as he thought of Pamela. "You burned out that poor woman's eyes."

Castiel pointed out. "I warned her not to spy on my true form. It can be... overwhelming to humans, and so can my real voice. But you already knew that."

"You mean the gas station and the motel. That was you talking?" Dean inquired, as Castiel nodded. "Buddy, next time, lower the volume."

"That was my mistake", Castiel admitted. "Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong."

"And what visage are you in now, huh?" Dean inquired. "What, holy tax accountant?"

"This?" Castiel looked down at his human body. "This is... a vessel."

Dean was outraged. "You're possessing some poor bastard?"

Castiel revealed. "He's a devout man, he actually prayed for this."

"Well, I'm not buying what you're selling, so who are you really?" Dean asked.

Castiel frowned. "I told you."

"Right", Dean sneered. "And why would an Angel rescue me from Hell?"

"Good things do happen, Dean."

"Not in my experience."

Castiel asked. "What's the matter? You don't think you deserve to be saved?"

"Why'd you do it?" Dean inquired.

"Because God commanded it. Because we have work for you", Castiel said, Dean watching him, before Castiel's face contorted and he grasped his head.

"What's the matter?"

"The wormhole…." Castiel trailed off. "It…"

"Yeah?" Dean inquired.

"It needs to be…..looked into…" Castiel said, holding his head, appearing to be in pain now.

And then, he disappeared in a flash, Dean's shock and confusion only increasing.

Earth-199999, The Bus

Coulson smiled as he watched a man wearing a coat walk in.

Holding out his hand, he said. "Thank you for coming, Mr. Hunt."

"Like I said", Ethan Hunt shook Coulson's hand. "Anything for a friend."

"Good to see you again, Ethan", Melinda said as she held out her hand, Ethan shaking that too.

"So, where is this breach thing?" Ethan asked as he looked around.

"Its directly below us, in the sky", Hardison confirmed, Ethan chuckling.

"What?" Skye asked out of curiosity.

"Nothing, it's a normal day for him", Coulson shrugged.

"I can see that", Mack commented on seeing the look in Ethan's eyes.

A while later, Hunt was in tactical gear, a cable wrapped around him as he stood at the edge of the Bus.

"So, it's directly there, right?" Ethan pointed at the empty space underneath them.

"Yeah, I can still detect it there", Hardison confirmed.

"All right then."

With that, Ethan jumped off, Hardison's jaw dropping. He had done a lot of risky things as part of the Leverage crew, but he really didn't think he could do this.

As Ethan continued to go down, the blue energy appeared around him, and he disappeared into that, the cable holding him also going through it, only the part around him that is.

"Oh boy!" Hardison muttered.

As Hunt continued to jump, he gritted his teeth, seeing various things pass by him.

He saw people who looked like Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Hawkeye (in a purple suit?) standing with a man in a red suit and helmet with antennae, and another figure in some sort of black stealth suit, while a tiny woman in a yellow suit and wings hovered near them.

And then he saw some other group- a guy in a blue suit and a cape on his back with a 'S' symbol on his chest, another guy dressed in black and looking like a bat with a bat symbol on his chest, a beautiful woman with a sword and shield wearing a scanty but royal looking suit, a man in some kind of red suit with a lightning symbol, a green alien looking man with a cape, a dark-skinned man in a green and black suit wearing some kind of Ring, and a woman with wings like a bird holding a mace.

After that, he saw a handsome man with white hair, wearing a red trenchcoat while he fired two guns around.

Next, he saw a giant-robot like being, whose body was a mix of red, blue, silver and grey, with the head being blue at the top and silver below, three antennae on each side of his head.

Then, there was some kind of police box that was twirling and moving.

And next, Hunt saw a tall, muscular man with short, spiked, black hair in a crew cut, holding a giant sword, having one eye and one half-prosthetic arm.

Then, he saw a tall, bald man, with an ash-white complexion, a scar across his right eye, with a red tattoo that threaded from his left eye, circled his left torso, and ended at his left shoulder. He had two blades that seemed to be bound to his flesh.

And after that, he saw a terrifying creature that seemed to look like a dinosaur, but even scarier, its face square and neck broad, while it had what looked like gills as well. Its eyes were golden yellow, and its size was beyond anything living he had seen.

Lastly, he saw what looked like a man with long hair, with a scar across his right eye.

At that moment, Ethan suddenly came out into what was a yellowish sky, hanging at the other end of this portal. He looked around, and his jaw dropped when he saw the buildings. They looked so advanced, and futuristic, like he'd never seen before. Hovering vehicles were being driven by people, flying all around.

Down below, he saw a tiny green alien man with a cane looking up at him neutrally, as well as a dark-skinned man next to him. Both wore robes, and Ethan noted that the dark-skinned looked a lot like Nick Fury, whom he had met once.

Actually, no, they looked exactly the same, the difference being this man had both eyes, and wore robes.

"Uhh…..hi?" Ethan waved awkwardly, before tugging on the cable.

Within seconds, he was pulled back up.

"What do you say about this, Master Yoda?" Mace Windu asked Yoda.

"Been discovered, an entrance to our world has", Yoda noted, knowing more portals were bound to pop up soon, connecting many worlds to theirs and each other.

Ethan sat on a chair, as Hardison asked him. "So, a green alien man was on the other end? And a lot of futuristic buildings and hover-crafts?"

"And someone who looked like Director Fury?" Melinda inquired.

Ethan nodded to all the questions, Coulson asking. "You sure it wasn't Director Fury?"

"Last I heard, Director Fury is said to be dead. And I'm pretty sure he didn't wear robes, and he didn't have both eyes", Hunt pointed out, and they had to concede to that.

"Thank you for your help here", Hardison thanked Ethan genuinely. "You've at least helped us see what's beyond one of these."

"Now, what exactly can this be?" Coulson wondered.

"What if…." All eyes turned to Skye.

"Yes?" Coulson urged her to carry on.

"What if these are other worlds?"

"Other worlds?" Hardison asked. "So, you're saying Eliot fell into another world? But which one?"

Earth-1, Star City

Oliver Queen of this Earth, now known as Green Arrow, swung down into a Chinese Triad base via a zipline.

After him came three more people.

One was John Diggle aka Spartan, another was his sister Thea Queen aka Speedy, and the last was Laurel Lance aka Black Canary.

The Triad members started picking their guns as Oliver fired, disarming one of them, and then he spun, striking two thugs, making them fall back, while Thea spun and struck another.

Laurel whacked one with her batons, as Diggle slammed one into the wall, then dodged a shot by another one and shot his shoulder, taking him down.

Oliver punched another man out, when one appeared with nunchakus, trying to strike him. Oliver backed, blocking his blows with the bow.

"Where's White?" Oliver asked, dodging another blow.

"We don't know!" The guy said, before striking Oliver's feet, making him fall down. Diggle tried to fire at him but was struck from the side by another man right on the throat, sending him down.

Thea fired at the nunchaku wielder, who used his weapon to deflect the arrows, while Laurel was grabbed by the throat by a big man, and thrown down. Thea turned to him and got kicked down too.

As Team Arrow groaned, someone suddenly kicked the big man from behind, sending him falling forwards. Before anyone could react, a man in a mask appeared, grabbing one man's gun and spinning, elbowing his face and knocking him out, disarming the man.

Ejecting the cartridge, the man threw the gun away, before spinning and kicking another one's feet, sending him down too, and turning, punched the big man on the throat, making him gasp as the guy then punched his gut twice, winding him and sending him to his knees.

The man then kicked the big man's face, knocking him out, before rolling to avoid another one's shots, and taking one of Laurel's batons, hurled it at his face, knocking him out too.

Then he rolled back to avoid the nunchakus of the thug, and getting up, backed twice, avoiding those nunchakus again.

As the thug struck again, the man held out his hand, letting the nunchaku wrap around his wrist. Then, using his strength, he pulled the thug towards him, and headbutted him hard, dazing him as he let go.

Then, twirling the nunchakus, the masked man struck the thug's side, winding him as he fell down, knocked out.

Throwing the nunchakus away, the man turned to see Team Arrow getting back up with groans. Immediately, he charged Oliver and punched him back.

As the others tried to intervene, he spun and kicked Thea's feet from underneath her, making her fall down, then spun and elbowed Diggle's throat, knocking him down too, and punched Laurel hard on the face, dazing her as she fell down as well.

Oliver fired an arrow but the man caught it, before Oliver charged him, trying to strike with his bow. The man dodged a blow, then did a spin, elbowing Oliver's back, staggering him forwards. As Oliver turned, the man kicked his chest, sending him back again, before lunging forth and punching his face, sending him down, then kicked him as he gasped.

Kneeling near him, the man said. "Your fighting skills look…really pathetic. You don't fight like you used to."

"What?" Oliver asked with a groan.

"I know you are The Hood and the Arrow as well. How this city couldn't figure it out, I'll never know", the man shook his head. "I saw footage of some of your older fights. If you still fought like that, you'd have given me a much harder fight, and pushed me as well, which not many can do."

Dropping the arrow near Oliver, the man got up. "Clearly, something has happened to you. If you want to protect your city and those you love, you need to fight like you used to."

With that, the man walked off, Oliver and his team slowly picking themselves up.

In an alley, the man took off his mask, revealing he had a handsome face with the beginnings of a very light beard, and very long hair.

Eliot Spencer smirked as he walked forth, knowing his friends were trying to find him. Until they did, he had work to do in this city in this world.

Central City

Joe was about to go to S.T.A.R. Labs when he saw a young cop walking to him. "Detective West, with Henry Allen out, the case has been officially closed. I saw to it myself."

"Thank you for winding that up, Officer Lloyd", Joe said with a smile as he shook hands with the cop.

"No worries, Detective", Officer Steven Lloyd assured Joe while they parted ways.

Chapter 4: Meetings

Chapter Text

Earth-1, Haddonfield, Myers House, October 31

Halloween theme song plays

In a lower level of the house, a man in a white mask lay on a couch. This was Michael Myers. His body had been injected with a corrosive fluid by Tommy Doyle, and he'd been knocked unconscious after multiple heavy blows to the head.

That was in 1995. It had been around 20 years since then, and Michael had continued to sleep.

Suddenly, Michael found himself in the middle of a crowded street, cars driving here and there, a sign above him saying- 'Central City'.

Then, he saw a baby lying on the ground in front of him. Michael immediately recognized the baby. It was the son of Jamie Lloyd, whom he'd killed, but he had failed to kill the baby due to the interference of Dr. Samuel Loomis, Tommy Doyle, Kara Strode and her son Danny Strode.

As he stared, the baby suddenly seemed to contort, growing into a man now, wearing a police uniform, the nametag saying- 'Steven Lloyd'.

"Michael", Steven Lloyd said with a smirk. "You couldn't even kill me when I was a baby. You can't kill me now."

Michael lumbered forwards, and raised his knife. He brought it down but Lloyd disappeared.

Then, everything seemed to shake, and Michael heard a terrifying voice near him, even if he wasn't scared of it.

"Go to Central City, Michael. Find Lloyd, and kill others in your path. You shall be granted some more power in your attempts too, Michael."

At that point, Michael's body jerked and shone with a bright, yellow light, and he woke up, his undying urge to kill returning in full force.

Picking up his knife, he walked up to the higher levels of the house, and then walked outside, looking around at the night sky.

Hearing the sound of water, he turned to see a neighbor cleaning his car, a black Toyota Camry, with water from a pipe. Michael walked towards him.

The man saw a vague outline of Michael in the reflection, and turned around.

"Whoa!" He said in shock. "Boy, you scared me. Dressed up for Halloween?"

He looked down at Michael's knife. "Now that looks very real. I guess I-"

Michael stabbed the man in the gut, making him gasp, as Michael raised him in the air with the knife, using just one hand, while his body shook like it was having a seizure. Michael then grasped his shoulder with the other hand, and moved the knife up, slowly slicing more of his insides.

Soon enough, Michael reached the chest, the man's blood pouring out of his mouth as well as the abdomen and chest that were cut open.

Finally, Michael reached his neck, and in that moment, the man lost his life.

As his head tilted to a side, Michael dropped his corpse, his blood and insides continuing to flow out of his body.

Michael knelt near him, and took out his car keys from his pocket. Pressing the buttons, Michael unlocked the car, and sat inside, before closing the door.

It had been a while since he had driven, and this car was different, due to being newer. But he still had the hang of it.

Starting it up by turning the keys, Michael put his foot on the accelerator, and drove away, Central City in his mind.

Earth-199999, The Bus

"So, you think there are other worlds?" Coulson asked Skye with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I mean, we do have Asgard and the other Realms, right?" Skye asked back while also making her point. "And Gods. So, other worlds are not out of the question."

"What she is trying to say is that the Multiverse theory is real and Eliot is somewhere else in the Multiverse", Hardison noted, sharing a look with Skye. "The Multiverse being real would be so cool under different circ*mstances."

"Oh I know", Skye had to agree there.

"There's two of them now", Mack whispered to Coulson, who simply rolled his eyes.

"So, I missed hanging from one world to another", Parker groaned, getting looks from the rest. "What? It sounded like a lot of fun."

"It was fun, and also new", Ethan told her. "It felt like the entire pathway is resisting me, and there are so many things I saw, and then I hang somewhere which looks completely different from here."

"Definitely wish I'd done it", Parker sighed.

"Well, we still have to go through one of these to find our friend", Hardison pointed out.

"So, are all of us going?" Melinda wondered.

"No, we're not", Coulson shook his head, looking at Parker and Hardison apologetically. "We would love to help, but as you know, we have our own things to deal with too, like Hydra."

"That is true", Tripp said with a sigh.

"Its all cool man", Hardison assured Coulson with a wave of his hand. "You helped us this much, now all we got to do is track where Eliot was last, and we'll find the breach."

"I could come with you", Ethan said at that point, making them turn to him.

"You will?" Parker asked, not believing it.

"Yes, Eliot has helped me a few times in the past too", Hunt shrugged. And while he had the mission to get to the Syndicate, there hadn't been much progress on it for a while, so he could take a break to help a friend out.

"Thanks man, much appreciated", Hardison said as he got up. "Guess we should prepare then."

"Yeah, I'd advice caution and preparation", Coulson agreed. "A new world will be new territory, and there's no telling what you might find."

"So, let's get ready then", Parker said.

Earth-1, Star City

"He just beat you all like that?" Felicity asked, not believing it, as Oliver, Thea, Laurel and Diggle were sitting around, grunting, slight marks on them. "Who was he even?"

"I don't know", Oliver grunted. "But he said he knows I was the Hood and Arrow before."

"Is he the new bad guy we've to fight?" Felicity groaned. "First Darhk and now him."

"No, he said he wanted me to fight like I used to", Oliver remembered. "Because my current way is inefficient."

"Its not, Oliver", Felicity tried to tell him. "You ae trying something new, and its great. This new way will give everyone hope as well."

Thea, Laurel and Diggle didn't really put their two cents in the argument, and for the moment, Oliver was convinced. Or at least he thought he was.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Earth-205, Bobby's house

Bobby was sitting at his desk with a pile of books in front of him. Sam sitting in a chair in the opposite corner talking to Dean, who was standing.

Sam was saying. "Well, then tell me what else it could be."

Dean was in denial. "Look, all I know is I was not groped by an Angel."

Sam pointed out. "Okay, look, Dean. Why do you think this Castiel would lie to you about it?"

Dean had another point. "Maybe he's some kind of demon. Demons lie."

Bobby looked up from his books at the boys while Sam asked Dean. "A Demon who's immune to salt rounds and devil's traps... and Ruby's knife? Dean, Lilith is scared of that thing!"

Dean still wasn't believing it. "Don't you think that if Angels were real, that some hunter somewhere would have seen one... at some point... ever?"

Sam knew one hunter who had. "Yeah. You just did, Dean."

"I'm trying to come up with a theory here. Okay? Work with me."

Sam tried to reason. "Dean, we have a theory."

Dean told him. "Yeah, one with a little less fairy dust on it, please."

"Okay, look. I'm not saying we know for sure. I'm just saying that I think we –"

"Okay, okay. That's the point. We don't know for sure, so I'm not gonna believe that this thing is a freaking Angel of the Lord because it says so!" Dean snapped.

Bobby got their attention. "You two chuckleheads want to keep arguing religion, or do you want to come take a look at this?"

Sam and Dean walked over to Bobby's desk who was saying. "I got stacks of lore - Biblical, pre-Biblical. Some of it's in damn cuneiform. It all says an Angel can snatch a soul from the pit."

Dean asked. "What else?"

"What else, what?"

"What else could do it?"

"Airlift your ass out of the hot box?" Bobby gave the answer. "As far as I can tell, nothing."

Sam said. "Dean, this is good news."

"How?"

"Because for once, this isn't just another round of demon crap. I mean, maybe you were saved by one of the good guys, you know?"

Dean decided to humor them to make his point. "Okay. Say it's true. Say there are Angels. Then what? There's a God?"

Bobby replied to him. "At this point, Vegas money's on yeah."

"I don't know, guys", Dean sighed.

"Okay, look. I know you're not all choirboy about this stuff, but this is becoming less and less about faith and more and more about proof", Sam pointed out.

"Proof?"

"Yes."

"Proof that there's a God out there that actually gives a crap about me personally? I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it", Dean said.

"Why not?"

"Because why me?" Dean asked. "If there is a God out there, why would he give a crap about me?"

"Dean –"

"I mean, I've saved some people, okay? I figured that made up for the stealing and the ditching chicks. But why do I deserve to get saved? I'm just a regular guy."

Sam assured Dean. "Apparently, you're a regular guy that's important to the man upstairs."

Dean commented. "Well, that creeps me out. I mean, I don't like getting singled out at birthday parties, much less by... God."

"Okay, well, too bad, Dean, because I think He wants you to strap on your party hat", Sam told his brother.

"Fine." Dean seemed to give in. "What do we know about Angels?"

Bobby picked up a pile of fat and weighty looking books and put them in front of Dean. "Start reading."

Dean looked at the pile of books, and turned towards Sam. "You're gonna get me some pie." He grabbed a book from the top of the pile.

As he opened it, he told them. "Also, one more thing, he was trying to tell me something about the wormhole."

"Really?" Sam asked. "I thought it was unimportant."

"Apparently not, I guess", Dean sighed. "But he got a headache when he tried to tell me."

"Angels getting a headache. Now that's new", Bobby quipped.

"I think someone upstairs doesn't want him blabbering about the wormhole", Dean told Sam and Bobby. "So, there's more to this whole thing than meets the eye. If he's an Angel, well, who is stopping him?"

Later

The Impala pulled up to a stop near a café. Sam was driving while on the phone. "Yes, Dean, I'll get the chips…. Dude. When have I ever forgotten the pie? Exactly."

Sam got out of the car and saw his Demonic ally Ruby waiting for him. "I got to go. Yeah, all right. Bye." He cut the call and walked over to Ruby. "Ruby."

"So, is it true?" Ruby asked.

"Is what true?" Sam inquired.

"Did an Angel rescue Dean?" Ruby got to the point.

"You heard", Sam noted.

"Who hasn't?" Ruby shrugged.

"We're not 100% sure, but I think so", Sam confessed his thoughts on the matter to Ruby.

"Okay. Bye, Sam." Ruby started walking away.

Sam grabbed her arm and turned her back to face him, not letting her go. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. What's going on?"

Ruby pointed out to him. "Sam, they're Angels. I'm a Demon. They're not gonna care if I'm being helpful. They smite first, and then they ask questions later."

Sam asked her. "What do you know about them?"

Ruby sighed. "Not much. I've never met one, and I don't really want to. All I know is that they scare the holy hell out of me. Watch yourself, Sam."

Sam shook his head. "I'm not scared of Angels. Also, anything you can tell me about the wormhole from months ago?"

"Not really, I don't know a thing", Ruby confessed as she walked away, leaving Sam alone.

Earth-1, Central City

Eddie Slick was running from Joe West, when he saw Steven Lloyd appear in his way. Lloyd was about to take out his gun, only for Slick to grab his hand, the two now struggling.

At that moment, a kick connected with Slick's face, making him hit the parked car nearby as he groaned, and then Patty Spivot was there, aiming a gun at Slick while pinning him down.

Joe appeared at that moment as Lloyd sighed. "He tried to go for my gun." And then he looked at Patty. "She saved me."

Patty looked at Joe. "So, can I be on your Task Force?"

"What are you doing here, Lloyd?" Joe asked, ignoring Patty for now.

"Got a report of some strange dude around the area, dressed like Robin Hood, roaming around the place", Lloyd shrugged. "But by the time I arrived, he was gone from here."

"Huh? Weird people all around", Joe had to say.

"Come on", Patty shoved Slick to the front as she cuffed him. "You have the right to remain silent, you have the right to an attorney…"

They started leading Slick away.

Halloween theme song plays

A short distance away, a black Toyota Camry stood. Inside it, Michael Myers watched the three officers walk away with their captive.

Star City

Eliot Spencer stood in front of a public TV as he saw a woman whose face was very familiar to him, begging and crying publicly.

"This is weird", Eliot muttered to himself, seeing how she looked exactly like Tara Cole, who'd taken Sophie Devereaux's place in their team temporarily at Sophie's request.

The woman here was called Jessica Danforth, and with tears in her eyes she begged. "To the man who took my daughter, please, I am begging you, please, let my baby go. She's all I have. She's my whole world."

She began crying and walked off while reporters clamored around her. Eliot knew what he had to do.

Central City

Eddie Slick had just been let go by Joe West, Patty Spivot and Steven Lloyd as none of them had probable cause to hold him right now, though Joe had warned him to not be seen around again.

Slick was walking down the stairs, when he thought he saw something strange to his side. He turned around a saw the man who'd just passed him seemed to resemble him from behind, and he was striding up the way that Slick had come down from.

At that moment, Slick sensed something, and turned back around, only for Michael Myers to swing a scythe, chopping Eddie's body into two from the waist.

Blood splattered on Michael's white mask while the top half of Slick's body crashed to the ground, the bottom half collapsing within seconds as well, blood seeping out of both the severed halves.

Joe turned around to see Slick walking back up and reminded him. "Didn't I just tell you I didn't want to see your ugly mug around here again?"

"Well, you're gonna have to, Detective West", Slick raised a fist which turned into sand. "So I can get to the Flash."

The fist of sand shot forwards, striking Joe on the face as he was knocked out.

"Hey!" Patty snarled, taking out her gun as she fired at Slick, and Lloyd did as well, but Slick was unaffected due to his body's physiology.

Smirking, he walked towards Patty. "I like you. You'll do the trick..." he grasped her hands, preventing her from making another move, "just fine."

"Let her go!" Lloyd snarled as he fired again, managing to get Slick on the head, but he was still unaffected.

"You on the other hand….." Slick turned to Lloyd and tried to punch him with a fist of sand, only for Lloyd to jump to the ground and roll away, barely avoiding it.

He stood up, aiming his gun again, only to see Slick and Patty were gone, leaving only him and the knocked-out Joe in the area.

Lloyd made to walk towards Joe to wake him up when he thought he sensed something. Looking up again, he saw a figure in the shadows.

The Shape Hunts Allyson plays

"Show yourself right now!" Lloyd demanded, aiming his gun at the figure. It walked out of the shadows, seeming to appear from the darkness.

It was a tall man in a white mask wearing a black jumpsuit, a scythe in his hand.

Seeing who it was, Lloyd's eyes widened in horror as his hands started shaking. He had never met this man in person, but he knew enough about his family history.

"M-Michael?" Lloyd asked in a shaking voice as Michael Myers slowly marched towards him, holding the scythe up.

"Michael, don't move!" Lloyd cried out, but Michael continued walking. Snarling, Lloyd fired at Michael, but while the shots hit, Michael did not seem affected by them.

So terrified was Lloyd that even after his gun was emptied, he continued to fire at the marching Michael, paying no heed to the repeated clicks of his now empty gun.

Soon enough, Michael stood in front of Lloyd, towering above his grand-nephew, his last living relative whom he needed to kill once and for all.

Michael snatched the gun from Lloyd, crushing it within his palm, as Lloyd stared in shock, while Michael tilted his head, and raised the scythe to kill Steven.

And then he swung-

Only for a clang to ring out.

Lloyd looked up in shock as he saw a tall man with long, rugged hair and a beard having appeared. He had blocked Michael's scythe with his sword. He also had a bow and arrows, with his clothes looking medieval, a cloak flowing behind him.

"Huh?" Lloyd let out, Michael now looking up to see the man, who towered over him.

Michael grunted, trying to overpower the man, but to his shock, he couldn't. The man pushed Michael back, and then kicked his chest, sending him falling to the ground as he rolled away.

The man marched towards Michael and raising his sword, tried to bring it down on Michael, but he rolled away to avoid and stood back up, swinging his scythe which the man blocked with his sword.

At that moment, Joe awoke with a groan, Lloyd finally snapping out of his daze as he rushed towards Joe, helping him up.

"What happened?" Joe asked, only for Lloyd to gesture to the front, and Joe's eyes widened in horror on what he saw.

"Is that…" he pointed at the man in the mask.

"Yes he is, Joe", Lloyd confirmed with a nod, as the man in the medieval clothes dodged a swing from Michael's scythe, then spinning, sliced Michael's abdomen, sending him down to the ground, groaning.

Joe had messaged Barry during that time.

As Michael got back up to fight the man, a red blur sped in and punched Michael right in the abdomen, sending him flying back and falling down, while Barry Allen now stood over him.

"Its over", Barry said as he knelt near Michael, who was seemingly knocked out.

Suddenly, Michael swung his scythe, slicing Barry's side, making him gasp, while Michael punched his face, knocking him away.

"Flash!" Joe cried out, running towards Barry, who was groaning on the ground, Lloyd running alongside him as both helped Barry up, but when they looked ahead, they saw both Michael and the man were gone.

"Who was that?" Barry asked with a groan, as not many could withstand a speed punch from him on the face.

"That was Michael Myers", Lloyd said grimly. "There's nothing left inside him. No reason, no conscience, no understanding in even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, of good or evil, right or wrong. What lives behind his eyes is purely and simply…evil."

The way Lloyd had spoken, it sent chills down the spines of both Barry and Joe.

"So, Michael Myers, Slick's meta-human lookalike, and Robin Hood", Joe groaned. "We have a lot on our plate."

Later, S.T.A.R. Labs

Barry and the rest of Team Flash stood, as Joe sat down in front of them, Iris speaking for all. "Michael Myers is here?"

"Wasn't he supposed to be dead?" Caitlin wondered.

"I saw him with my own eyes", Joe said with a gulp. "Officer Lloyd is giving his statement to the other cops right now. I'll have to talk to him more once this is done."

"So, Michael is back", Cisco whispered in dread. "Let's hope anymore do not return."

"More? Like who?" Iris wondered.

"You are a journalist, I figured you'd know this stuff", Cisco shrugged. "I mean, ever heard about the incident in the Bates Motel in the 60s?"

Blank looks from all, except Barry and Joe, the former saying. "Yeah, I have."

"The cannibal family up there in Texas?" Cisco reminded.

"Oh yeah, no one has heard from 'em in years though", Joe had to say.

"And I hope it stays that way", Cisco sighed.

"What of this man dressed in medieval clothes who fought Michael Myers?" Stein inquired at that point.

"No idea, did hear reports of him though", Joe commented. "Really no idea what to make of him."

"And Patty was taken by Sand Demon", Barry sighed, noting how many problems were piling up for them. In that moment, he made a decision, and walked off towards the Pipeline.

"Where are you going?" Joe asked.

"To do something I hope I don't regret", Barry replied.

Star City

Eliot was in an alley now, as he looked around, and saw a man with a broken arm in a cast standing near a fire.

He immediately walked up to the man. "Hey!"

The man looked up at him. "The man who took Jessica Danforth's daughter, who is he? And where is he?"

When the man didn't reply, Eliot raised a fist, and he broke immediately. "He is an enforcer! He has worked with many gangs recently! Lonnie Machin! That's his name!"

"And where can I find him right now?" Eliot inquired.

"Its somewhere near Heavy Heavy Club, 4th and Pierce!"

Lowering his fist, Eliot turned around and walked off. "Thank you."

The man was panting heavily in fear.

At the club, Madison Danforth was restrained, as Lonnie Machin returned. "Sorry to leave you hanging. I had a meeting. It didn't go well. Turns out, I can't sit at the cool kids' table."

As Madison cried, Machin walked towards the cupboard. "When trillions and trillions of molecules exploded from a pin head, were there rules dictating how to establish a universe? No!" He opened the cupboard, revealing many torture tools, horrifying Madison who gasped as he took out one. "They found their way through the chaos."

"Please!" Madison begged. "You can still let me go!"

Machin walked towards her, seeming to be reached through by Madison. "Only if you promise not to tell anybody about me."

Madison nodded in fear, tears in her eyes. "Please!"

With that, Machin undid one restraint of Madison, and lifted up his pinky. "Pinky swear?"

Still scared, Madison lifted hers too, doing the pinky swear with him.

And then, Machin smirked cruelly. "I changed my mind." He pressed Madison's pinky hard, breaking it as she screamed in pain.

"Oh, God! Oh, the things I'm about to do to you..." He said as she continued screaming.

At that moment, the glass above shattered as Oliver, Thea, Laurel and Diggle jumped down, all suited up, with Oliver and Thea aiming their arrows at Machin.

"Something wrong with the front door?" Machin asked.

"Get away from the girl!" Oliver demanded.

"Could you come back in an hour? We were just getting started", Machin joked before pushing Madison away from him as he ran off.

Oliver and Dig fired but he managed to avoid before picking up a flamethrower, activating it as the four had to stand back to avoid the flames.

With that, he ran off, leaving only the four and the restrained Madison there.

Dig walked towards her alongside Laurel. "Let's get her down."

"Felicity", Oliver called out.

"So now a mad man dujour knows you're working with a Felicity. This is why I need a code name."

"We have Madison, but he split", Oliver told her.

"There's no movement outside the club. He must still be in there with you."

"She needs medical attention", Dig said, carrying Madison in his arms.

"Get her to safety", Oliver told Dig and Laurel before assuring. "We've got this."

They nodded, walking out with Madison as Oliver turned to Thea. "Hey." She looked at him. "Can you handle this?"

She shrugged. "I'm good."

Bows drawn, the two archers entered the next room, looking around carefully, trying to find Machin's hiding spot.

Suddenly, Machin popped up from behind Thea and hit her back with an electric baton, sending an electric shock through her as she gasped, falling down.

"Speedy!" Oliver cried out in horror.

Oliver fired an arrow at Machin that he deflected with the baton, then charged Oliver, clashing with him as Oliver backed and blocked the baton with his bow.

Oliver was actually struggling to hold him back, to his own shock, as the words of the masked man came back to him.

Machin switched to his kamas, Oliver trying to block those as he hurled a fletchette that Machin deflected, and then Machin struck him with the kamas a few times, sending him down, before hitting him with the electric baton, making him grunt.

As Machin raised the baton to strike again, he was kicked away by someone, and he rolled on the ground.

Oliver looked up to see the masked man from before holding out a hand to him.

Grunting, Oliver took his hand, letting the man help him up, who asked him. "See what I mean?"

"I think I might be", Oliver had to agree now.

Machin charged with a roar, trying to strike with his electric baton, but the masked man dodged by side-stepping, then grabbing Machin's hand, brought it down on his knee, making him let go of the baton, before flipping him to the ground.

Machin backed off as the man marched towards him, before getting up, trying to spin kick the man, only for him to grab Machin's foot and elbow his knee, and he gasped in pain.

"You're just a kid", the man shrugged, pushing Machin back. "You know what they do to kids who misbehave?"

Then, as Machin charged to attack again, the masked man slapped his face, turning it the other way. "That!"

And then, he punched Machin in the gut, winding him as he went down on his knees, before the man punched him out.

That moment, he sensed something behind him and turned to see Thea, who kicked his chest, sending him back, while giving out a feral growl.

Roaring, she charged him again, leaping and trying to spin kick, but the man grabbed her and hurled her the other way, sending her rolling to the floor.

Getting up, she charged again, only for Oliver to grab her. "Speedy, don't!"

With another roar, she let herself free, and punched Oliver, before grabbing him by the throat. As Oliver tried to free himself, the man grabbed her from behind, managing to pull her off.

In that moment, she seemed to come to her senses, the feral look in her eyes being replaced by one of confusion, as if she didn't realize what was going on.

Then that was replaced by a look of horror, as what she had just tried to do registered within her mind.

The man let her go while she fell down on her knees. "Oh no!"

"Speedy…" Oliver tried to comfort her, when the masked man felt another presence nearby.

"Get down!" He cried out, and they did, as an arrow flew in, embedding into a table nearby, and down jumped a man in a hood, carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows. Keeping the bow aside, he brandished a sword with a flourish, pointing it at Oliver.

"Oliver Queen, you shall pay for what you did to my family", he snarled, and Oliver could tell from the accent he was Japanese.

The Japanese man charged, swinging his sword as Oliver blocked with his bow, then spun and tried to strike with it, the man blocking his bow now before kicking his side, sending him staggering away.

As Thea tried to nock an arrow, the man leapt in the air and spun, kicking her on the face and knocking her down.

Oliver fired an arrow at the man, only for him to cut it into two with his sword, as Oliver got back up while the man charged him and brought the sword down on him, but Oliver blocked with the bow and managed to push the man back.

And then, the masked man grabbed the Japanese man's wrist before punching him on the face, sending him back. After that, the masked man rushed at him and grabbing him by the waist, lifted hm up before rushing forth faster, and slammed him onto a table, shattering it while the man groaned.

Before the masked man could slam his foot down on the guy, he twirled his feet and kicked him back, before flipping and standing up, as Oliver smacked his face with his bow, staggering him back, before spinning and striking at his feet, making him fall down.

The masked man got back up as Oliver nocked an arrow at the Japanese man. "Who are you?"

"My name is Takeo Yamashiro!" The man revealed his name, Oliver's eyes widening in horror as he realized why this man hated him so much.

"Because of you, my family has been ruined. Akio and Maseo are dead!"

And with that, Takeo kicked Oliver hard, sending him flying back before flipping back up. He swung at the masked man, who dodged his swing, then spinning, elbowed his face, dazing him as he staggered back, while the masked man turned and decked his face again, before grasping his shoulders and kneeing his gut, as he was winded.

The masked man then leapt and kicked Takeo on the face, sending him flying off by a few feet.

As he marched towards Takeo, he got up with a groan, and threw a flashbang grenade to the ground, blinding him temporarily.

When the flash was gone, Takeo had disappeared.

"Damn it!" He muttered, as he turned around to see Oliver getting up alongside Thea.

"Thank you", Oliver said to him gratefully.

"Its fine", the man shrugged as he made to walk off.

"Who are you?" Oliver inquired.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Trust me, I've seen a lot of weird", Oliver told him.

"Not this weird."

"Right", Oliver sighed.

"You could have ripped that kid apart even if you were holding back", the man said, gesturing to the unconscious Machin.

"You're right", Oliver had to agree. "Guess you had a point after all."

"I did", he nodded, before walking off and jumping out a window, while Oliver and Thea shared a look.

Central City

Sand Demon was circling around Patty, whom he'd tied up on a chair with a concussive bomb underneath.

"Let the maiden go!"

He turned around to see the man in the medieval clothes aiming an arrow at him, and chuckled. "Couldn't do that even if I wanted to."

"Did you just call me a maiden?" Patty asked at the same time.

The man let the arrow lose, and, to his shock, while it embedded into Eddie's shoulder, it didn't affect him much.

As he watched, Sand Demon pulled the arrow out of his shoulder, the man watching the sand fall from the spot where the arrow had been.

That was how he had managed to track Sand Demon in this strange world, where he did not understand much, if anything at all. While making away with Patty, Sand Demon had dropped little traces of sand on the way, after every few miles.

The man had seen all of that, before trying to save Lloyd from the immediate threat of Michael Myers. But since Michael Myers had escaped, he had gone after the Sand Demon now.

"Bullets don't do jack squat to me, you thought an arrow would?" Sand Demon mocked as he threw the arrow down, then forming a sandy fist, hurled it out to the punch the man.

The man threw himself down, managing to avoid the punch, and taking out his sword, sliced at the sandy fist, though nothing happened, as Sand Demon retracted the fist.

He walked forwards, the man getting up. Sand Demon tried to strike him, but the man punched him first. And, to Sand Demon's shock, the punch was strong enough to send him flying. He fell on the ground, feeling actual pain as he held his face.

The man's weapons were no danger to him, but the man himself was. Before he could get up, the man grasped him from behind by his collar, picking him up, and turning him around, punched him thrice, dazing him while he fell back, groaning in pain.

That was when a 'whoosh' sound was heard, and the man turned around to see another man standing there, in a red 'armor' (that's what it looked like to him), with a lightning symbol in the middle, and a helmet on his head.

"Flash?" Sand Demon said in shock.

"Surprised?" The helmeted man asked with a smirk.

Then, the 'whoosh' was heard again, and Barry appeared in front of Patty, causing her hair to flutter due to his speed.

Running behind her, Barry quickly undid her restraints and got her off the chair, causing the concussive bomb to go off.

But Barry had already gotten Patty a little away from the chair, so the explosion simply knocked them both away by a few feet, and did the same to the medieval man and the helmeted man, while Sand Demon simply stood with his arms raised to either side, sand coming off of him.

Barry got up first and checked the unconscious Patty's pulse, before speaking into the comms. "Patty's alive."

"What is all this?" Sand Demon growled as he looked around. "First King Arthur appears to stop me, now there are two Flashes, huh?"

The helmeted man gave Barry a nod, who knew what he had to do. He started running in circles around Sand Demon, the man in the medieval clothes watching in shock.

Here there were Men who could turn into sand, or run so fast they looked like lightning. He had never seen a Man do that.

After running a few rounds, Barry seemed to slow down, and with a roar, hurled a bolt of lightning at Sand Demon.

As it struck him, Sand Demon turned into glass, and was sent flying back before crashing on the ground, the impact smashing him into pieces, killing him.

The helmeted man looked impressed. "Nice shot, kid."

"Thanks", Barry nodded.

"You defeated this Man made of sand", the medieval man noted, impressed, as he looked at Barry. "You seem to be a noble warrior."

"Huh? So you talk like Arthur and Robin Hood too", Barry commented. "Who are you?"

"I am one of the Dúnedain", the Man simply shrugged.

"Is that the best answer I'm gonna get?" Barry asked, but they were interrupted by someone.

"Flash?"

They turned to see Patty had woken up.

"Coming", Barry and the helmeted man said together, running towards her at normal speed, passing a brick pillar in their middle.

Reaching Patty, they knelt near her, inquiring about her well-being and trying to see if there were any injuries on her.

The Man who'd said he was 'One of the Dúnedain' walked behind them, kneeling near Patty too, as he examined her face and hands. "There are no injuries on you, my lady. But I suggest you should be resting for sometime."

"Who are you?" Patty inquired in confusion.

"Not gonna get a straight answer there", Barry told her with a sigh, before looking at the Man. "But, I guess you're a doctor as well?"

"I know not what that means", the Man confessed, only making Barry and the helmeted man share another look.

The helmeted man gestured to the side, so he and Barry walked there, with Barry asking with folded arms. "So, Jay, what do you think his deal is?"

"I think the Singularity opened a portal between more than just your world and mine", Jay Garrick said what he was thinking.

"Meaning…" Barry trailed off.

"There might be a world that is still in the medieval stage", Jay explained, before gesturing to 'One of the Dúnedain'. "And someone from there has fallen onto here."

"Oh boy!" Barry groaned in realization, before turning to the Man. "I'm sorry, you're here because of me."

"I do not understand", the Man said.

"I'll explain everything in a bit", Barry assured him. "But you'll have to come with us."

Seeing he had nothing to really lose, considering how strange this place was, the Man nodded. "I will come with you, Man of Lightning."

"And, should I call you something or is it gonna be 'one of the Dúnedain'?"

"You can call me Strider", the Man finally gave a name.

A while later, Strider was now in a building called S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry had grasped him, and ran here. Strider had never experienced anything like this before. The rush, the wind against his face, not even riding on a horse came close to this.

And then there was how this building was from the inside, and even outside. It was so different from anything he had seen in Middle-earth. He saw some tubes with strange liquids inside. "What are those?"

"Those are chemicals."

"And what are 'chemicals'?"

"Do you know the term 'potions'?" Barry inquired.

"That I do know", Strider confirmed, as he took a seat.

"Well, they are kind of like that. The way a blacksmith mixes different metals to forge a sword, these chemicals can be mixed to create many kinds of things", Barry explained.

Strider nodded, processing the explanation. "I believe I understand now."

He looked at Cisco's computers on the table. "And what are these?"

"They're called computers."

"What do these computers do?" Strider asked now.

"Think of it like a scribe I guess", Barry shrugged, pointing to the buttons. "You see those? If you press them, you can write on this thing's screen. You don't need any quill or ink here. And that's one of the many things it does. My friend uses it to even find out where danger is taking place in the city, including from people like the man of sand you helped us fight."

Strider absorbed this explanation as well, Barry telling him. "So, I know its gonna be hard to explain this, but well, you're in a different world from your own. You have a sword, and bow and arrows, and based on how you talk and dress, I think its safe to say this world is beyond yours, in terms of how advanced ours is."

"You have these chemicals, computers, and chariots that run faster than those pulled by horses", Strider sighed. "So I would believe that."

"Those 'chariots' are called cars."

"Thank you", Strider said.

"I think it might be my fault you're here", Barry said with a wince. "I made a mess, and it brought you here."

"Are you saying you had something to do with the tear in the sky I saw months ago, and how a blue spell that looked like it pulled me inside, and brought me here?" Strider asked, Barry realizing he was speaking of the Singularity, and had fallen here through a breach.

Well, based on what he said, Jay's story checked out too.

"I made a mistake, a huge one, which caused that to happen", Barry said apologetically. "I'm sorry I brought you here from your world, as you may not understand things."

To Barry's surprise, Strider put a hand on his shoulder. "You made an error, but you should not let it define you. Because the way you defeated the man of sand to save that woman, only a true and noble warrior can do that."

Seeing Strider being forgiving of him did alleviate Barry's guilt a little as he said. "Thanks. We'll try our best to get you back to your world."

"I thank you for that offer. I need to get back there soon", Strider confessed.

"Well, I guess I can trust you", Barry said, before removing his cowl to reveal his face. Strider noted how young he was. He seemed to be as young as he was when Lord Elrond had told him who he really was. Perhaps a little older.

And like him, this Man carried a burden, having these powers, and using them to protect people from evil men like the one made of sand.

"My name is Barry Allen, and I'm also called the Flash", Barry finally gave his name, holding out his hand to Strider.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Barry Allen", Strider told him.

"And I have people who work with me", Barry said, gesturing to the hallway as Cisco, Caitlin, Stein, Jay, Joe and Iris walked in.

"Hi man, I'm Cisco", Cisco held out his hand excitedly, Strider shaking it. "You're tall."

Strider chuckled, Cisco letting go while Caitlin shook his hand. "I'm Dr. Caitlin Snow. From what Barry tells me, you're kind of a doctor yourself."

"What is a 'doctor'?" Strider inquired again.

"I guess the term you'd be familiar with is 'healer'", Caitlin corrected herself.

"I have been taught some ways to heal", Strider confirmed, before Stein shook his hand.

"Martin Stein."

And then Joe shook his hand. "I'm Joe West, Barry's adoptive dad."

Strider smiled. "You have raised a truly noble son."

Joe let go, looking flattered, as Iris shook his hand next. "Iris West, I'm his daughter."

Strider simply nodded, before Jay shook his hand. "I'm Jay Garrick. And like you, I'm from a world that's different from this one as well."

"So, are you lost here as well, Jay Garrick?" Strider inquired.

"You can say that", Jay confirmed.

"Who was the man in the mask who attacked an ally of yours?" Strider then asked, turning to Joe, as the atmosphere plummeted.

"He is a murderer, a very dangerous one", Joe said. "If you hadn't come there, he would have been dead."

He suddenly realized something. "I've to go, talk to him about this." With that, Joe walked off.

"So, Strider", Caitlin turned to him. "I think you might be tired, considering you've been in this world for a while and haven't rested, plus all the confusion."

Strider noted that Caitlin was right. While it took a lot to tire him, falling into this new world, and navigating it, alongside seeing how advanced it was, it had been tiring for him.

"I do need to rest", Strider said.

"Well, we have a bed here, come on", Caitlin said, leading him away.

Earth-205

Sam was asleep on the couch. Dean was asleep on the floor nearby and woke up to find Castiel standing in the kitchen. Dean checked on Sam, saw he was asleep, and walked over to join Castiel, who said. "Excellent job with the witnesses."

"You were hip to all this?" Dean asked.

"I was, uh, made aware."

"Well, thanks a lot for the Angelic assistance", Dean said sarcastically. "You know, I almost got my heart ripped out of my chest."

"But you didn't", Castiel pointed out.

"I thought Angels were supposed to be guardians", Dean said. "Fluffy wings, halos - you know, Michael Landon. Not dicks."

Castiel was dry. "Read the Bible. Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier."

"Yeah? Then, why didn't you fight?"

Castiel replied. "I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had larger concerns."

"Concerns? There were people getting torn to shreds down here! And, by the way, while all this is going on, where the hell is your boss, huh, if there is a God?"

"There's a God", Castiel insisted, before suddenly grasping his head, as if in pain, which Dean noted, before Castiel came back to normal.

"I'm not convinced. 'Cause if there's a God, what the hell is He waiting for, huh? Genocide? Monsters roaming the earth? The freaking Apocalypse? At what point does He lift a damn finger and help the poor bastards that are stuck down here?"

Castiel started. "The Lord works..."

"If you say "mysterious ways," so help me, I will kick your ass", Dean snarled. "So, Bobby was right... about the witnesses. This is some kind of a... sign of the Apocalypse."

"That's why we're here. Big things afoot."

"Do I want to know what kind of things?"

"I sincerely doubt it, but you need to know", Castiel said. "The rising of the witnesses is one of the 66 seals."

Dean noted. "Okay. I'm guessing that's not a show at Seaworld."

Castiel explained. "Those seals are being broken by Lilith."

Dean realized. "She did the spell. She rose the witnesses."

"Mm-hmm. And not just here. 20 other hunters are dead."

"Of course. She picked victims that the hunters couldn't save so that they would barrel right after us."

"Lilith has a certain sense of humor."

"Well, we put those spirits back to rest."

Castiel revealed. "It doesn't matter. The seal was broken."

"Why break the seal anyway?"

Castiel gave a metaphor. "You think of the seals as locks on a door."

"Okay. Last one opens and..,"

"Lucifer walks free."

"Lucifer?" Dean was shocked. "But I thought Lucifer was just a story they told at demon Sunday school. There's no such thing."

Castiel pointed out. "Three days ago, you thought there was no such thing as me. Why do you think we're here walking among you now for the first time in 2,000 years?"

"To stop Lucifer", Dean realized.

"That's why we've arrived."

"Well... bang-up job so far. Stellar work with the witnesses. That's nice."

Castiel told him. "We tried. And there are other battles, other seals. Some we'll win, some we'll lose. This one we lost. Our numbers are not unlimited. Six of my brothers died in the field this week. You think the armies of Heaven should just follow you around? There's a bigger picture here. You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in."

At that point, Dean asked. "Now, care to tell me about the wormhole?"

"The wormhole….." Castiel suddenly trailed off. "It's a…."

Before he could speak, he was vanished, screaming as if he was being dragged away, Dean watching in shock.

Earth-1, Star City

"That man, he beat Machin for us", Oliver was telling the rest. "But Takeo Yamashiro is here, and he blames me for his family getting ruined."

"Is there anyone you've not managed to piss off?" Felicity had to ask in her usual 'dry quippy' style.

Oliver, losing some patience, turned to her. "I feel horrible for what happened to Tatsu, Maseo and Akio. You think you making a comment about that is gonna make a difference?"

Felicity jumped, this being the first time since they'd gotten together that Oliver had yelled at her.

"Oliver, calm down", Dig tried to reassure him, but Oliver ignored him.

"Well, I can definitely see what the other guy was talking about", Oliver commented. "I should have beaten Machin even while holding back. Yet he could hold his own against me."

"What are you saying, Ollie?" Thea inquired.

"I think I've gotten soft, too soft", Oliver told his team. "I need to get that edge back."

"You mean killing people?" Laurel asked.

"No!" Oliver snapped, scaring everyone a little again. "Just…the drive, I need it again."

"You're helping the city, trying something new, isn't that a sign of your drive?" Felicity asked.

"Its different, and you know it", Oliver told Felicity, and that seemed to end this conversation.

"Anyways", Laurel spoke up. "I thought Thea could use some time out of town…"

Eliot Spencer sat in the empty warehouse where he was hiding out ever since coming to this world. At least this time, Oliver had listened to him. All it took was him pointing out he could have ripped apart the kid who was giving him so much trouble.

He could only hope Oliver took the advice to heart, especially since this new enemy was going to be a personal one for him.

Central City

"So, Michael Myers", Joe said, sitting down in front of Steven Lloyd. "Guess we just narrowly survived him, didn't we, officer?"

"I had a feeling he'd come back one day", Lloyd noted, seeming to look far ahead. "But its still a surprise, seeing him in the flesh."

"The way you're talking about him", Joe realized. "You have history with him or what?"

"Well detective, I assume you know about his murder sprees back at Haddonfield in the 70s and 80s, right?" Lloyd inquired.

"Yeah, I know some stuff", Joe confirmed. "Killed his older sister on Halloween night in 1963, then 15 years later broke out of Smith's Grove Sanitarium to return to Haddonfield, and killed some more people. A hospital explosion put him into a coma but he woke up 10 years later, killed more people, then disappeared for a year and came back to kill some more again."

"You have a decent idea", Lloyd noted. "Well, let me tell you the remaining details- when he broke out in 1978, the woman he was really fixated on killing, Laurie Strode, she was his younger sister, after Michael was sent to Smith's Grove, his parents died in an accident, so Laurie was adopted by the Strode family."

"Damn!" Joe's eyes were wide with this new piece of info. "That I didn't know."

"Its something only the locals of Haddonfield are aware of", Lloyd shrugged. "After Michael went into a coma, Laurie married and had a daughter, but she and her husband died in a car crash too. When Michael woke up again, he tried to come after their daughter, Jamie Lloyd. One year later, he was arrested, but someone broke him out, and took Jamie as well."

As Joe listened, Lloyd continued. "It was a Cult, who apparently were controlling the evil within Michael. One of them….well, they impregnated Jamie when she was a teenager."

Joe looked like he wanted to track down the one from the cult who'd impregnated Jamie to shoot him in the head. Lloyd wanted to do the same, and much worse.

"Jamie tried to escape with her kid, and he was saved, but Michael killed her."

As Joe watched, Lloyd stopped for a bit, taking some deep breaths, seeming to be in distress, even grief.

After a few minutes, he seemed good to speak again.

"Meanwhile, the brother of Laurie's adoptive dad had moved into the Myers house with his family, but they became the next target, and the Cult tried to pass Michael's evil onto the kid in the family", Lloyd continued. "But his mom, who survived, alongside Dr. Samuel Loomis, Michael's psychiatrist who was obsessed with stopping him, and this Tommy Doyle who'd been babysat by Laurie when Michael first attacked her and was obsessed with him since then, they all saved the day. Michael wasn't seen then, up until now."

Seeing Joe's look, Lloyd commented. "You must be wondering how I know all this. Well, after all was said and done, Tommy and Kara, the mom in the Strode family, they got together, and raised their kid, as well as Jamie's son, together. And I am Jamie's son."

Joe's jaw dropped, as he pointed a shaking finger at Lloyd. "You…..you…"

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah."

"You survived him as a baby", Joe noted, impressed. "Now he is after you again."

"And I'm hoping we end it this time", Lloyd snarled.

"Look, you're gonna stay at home for a bit, and I'm gonna put a protection squad there", Joe said.

Lloyd started. "Detective, its appreciated but-"

"No buts", Joe shook his head as he stood up, walking off. "I'm gonna talk with Captain Singh about this too. Whether you're related to him or not, Michael is dangerous. We need to stop him."

"He'll slaughter them all to get to me!" Lloyd snapped.

"No, we're gonna stop him", Joe shook his head, and Lloyd sighed, realizing he couldn't argue here. All he could do was stop Michael when they came face to face again.

Michael Myers sat in his Toyota Camry, not moving even a little bit. His attempt on Lloyd had been thwarted, but he was the Boogeyman for a reason. He was going to find Steven, and kill him.

And Lloyd won't be the only one he'd kill.

Universe-92, the Realm of the Powers That Be

In a cloud-like Dimension sat the Powers That Be, who watched over this world. All of them were dressed in white.

Their leader was named Balial, but he was blind, for one of the Powers had gone rogue a long time ago, and in the attempts to banish her, Balial had lost his eyesight forever.

There were others, like Behmen, Nigue, Jossetta Whedonasta, Talzin and Vasoros, and all were gathered together.

"The human puppets of the Wolf, the Ram and the Hart tried to torture our Prophet by intercepting my way of communication with her", Vasoros said. He was the one who gave Cordelia the visions, and before her, it was Doyle. "Fortunately, our Champion thwarted their attempt again."

"This war between them is escalating, but even the Wolf, the Ram and the Hart know how important the Champion will be in the Apocalypse", Balial pointed out. "So we have no reason to interfere."

"And the breaches through worlds?" Jossetta asked.

"Now that is a concern", Balial said.

"We can't even close them", Behmen noted. "Our plans can be ruined."

"Yes, we have to do something!" Nigue agreed.

"Let us wait for what happens first", Balial said. "If something requires our attention, we shall interfere."

Chapter 5: More crossings

Chapter Text

Earth-199999

A group of people were running through the woods at very high speed. What stood out about this group though, was that all of them had two elongated canines.

They were Vampires!

After a while of running, they stopped, hiding behind trees. If Vampires could sweat and pant, they would.

"Do you think we lost him?" One of them asked lowly.

The other one moved his head out from behind the cover, and looked out into the dark as far as his enhanced eyesight could see, and there was nothing.

"I think we did."

They started to laugh, relieved, until the guy moved back behind the tree, leaning against it, when he felt unbelievable pain in his chest. He and his friends looked down, and saw a silver stake, and a figure in the distance, but it didn't matter as the Vamp turned to dust.

The others, who numbered three in total, split up, as the figure took out something from behind his leather trench coat, and threw it.

One of the friends, who was a female Vampire, looked back before facing forward again, only for a spinning shuriken to come in from the side and slice her head off, the shuriken continuing to spin before a black blur caught it.

One of the remaining Vamps stopped short of nearly running off a cliff, then turned around to see the dreaded just a few feet away from him.

He was a tall, dark-skinned man wearing shades and black trenchcoat with armor underneath it. He had a small moustache.

"Blade!" The Vamp yelled as he tried to punch, but Blade blocked and whacked him on the face, before flipping him to the ground while he got on the Vamp's other side, taking out his gun as well.

At that moment, the remaining Vamp appeared, holding up a Desert Eagle. Blade shot the one he'd thrown to the ground, turning him into dust, then aimed at the last Vamp, firing a shot while the Vamp fired one at the same time, the projectiles passing against each other.

Blade's bullet hit the heart of the Vamp, turning him into dust. The bullet from the Vamp's gun hit the armor, but, to Blade's shock, rather than uselessly impacting against it, the bullet drilled into him, forcing him back as he gritted his teeth.

He grunted just as the strange bullet exploded, sending him flying off as he started falling down the length of the cliff.

Only, a blue portal appeared in the way, and Blade fell into that instead, grunting as he saw various images during his fall.

First, he saw what looked like a kid with spiky black hair wearing a blue gi, carrying a stick, and having a…..tail?

Then next up, he saw a boy with messy hair, wearing glasses, and carrying some kind of wand, a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

After that, he saw three pretty women, who had some similar facial features, reading from a book, and they seemed to be chanting.

Next, he saw a man wearing a hat of some kind, his body glowing with lightning.

And then, Blade saw a figure wearing a mask that looked like a screaming ghost, with black robes around, holding up a hunting knife with blood on it.

After that, he saw a tall man in black with spiky, blonde hair, carrying a big sword on his back while crouching over a train.

Then, he saw a young boy in orange with blonde hair wearing a headband with a symbol on it, and having whiskers on his face.

Next, he saw two men battling with swords, and the swords were glowing with lightning.

Then, he saw a majestic looking lion with a mane, letting out a roar.

And finally, Blade saw what looked like a tiny green man with pointy ears.

It was at that moment that Blade finally fell on the ground, face first, his face going into sand, making him grunt as he spit it out, before groaning, feeling weakened due to the strange bullet that had hit him.

He felt a metallic hand touching his shoulder. "Are you all right? Who are you?"

Whoever it was, the person turned Blade around, and with his drowsy eyesight, Blade saw a figure wearing a bluish armor, with a helmet to top it off, and there was a symbol on the helmet as well.

As Blade's eyes started drooping shut, another figure walked up next to the one kneeling over Blade, and when the figure spoke, it was clear that it was a woman.

"He just fell from the hole in the sky, didn't he?" She asked.

She too wore a similar kind of armor with a helmet, and it was all blue, grey and white.

And at that moment, Blade lost consciousness.

"Let us take him to our base", the male one said to his female companion, and she nodded as he picked Blade up.

Earth-21, Metropolis

Clark was flying in the sky while speaking to Chloe and Tess on the comms, telling them. "Like I said, I just don't feel comfortable coming around with Lex's tracker on me."

"And like we said, Lex knows we all work together, so you being or not being here isn't really gonna change anything", Chloe pointed out to him in reminder. "Though me and Tess did find some interesting stuff while trying to hack into his computer."

"Like?" Clark inquired.

"Remember the wormhole?"Tess asked.

"Yeah", Clark nodded.

"According to Lex, its some kind of portal into a different world. Since we have experience with other worlds, I think he is onto something here."

"Trying to do something in other worlds?" Clark wondered as he stopped flying, now hovering a few feet above the tallest building in the city.

"There is a warehouse where he is conducting some kind of experiment regarding the wormhole", Chloe told him. "At least that's what the files we have here say."

"You might wanna be careful though, Clark", Tess pointed out to him. "Lex has his tracker on you."

"Knowing Lex, whatever he is doing, it is nothing good", Clark told her and Chloe. "Tracker or not, I think I'll have to check."

"Well, I'm not gonna let you go in there alone", Chloe said in a tone that left no room for arguments.

"So, Oliver is coming?"

"No, I called someone else."

Later, warehouse

Clark flew into the warehouse after blowing open a window, and as he landed, a blur sped in there before stopping, revealing himself to be a very human figure with blonde hair, wearing a red sweatshirt with a white lightning bolt over the chest and torso over a black long-sleeved shirt along with black running pants, red, black and white high-tech running sneakers and a red cuff around each wrist as well as a pair of red sports goggles with yellow lenses which also had an elastic band.

"Hey amigo", Bart Allen greeted Clark, who smiled as they hugged.

"Nice to see you too", Clark told him. "Really like the new look."

"When you upgraded, figured I could too", Bart shrugged as they looked around the warehouse. "Don't really see much here. Not sure what the fuss was about. And if you're worried, I took care of the cameras before you even came in."

"Baaaaart!"

Hearing the strange voice, Bart looked around, very much freaked out, but saw nothing except tables with files on them.

"What's the matter?" Clark asked his friend.

"Nothing", Bart shook his head, though it was clear Clark was not convinced. "Let's check those files, eh?"

"Agreed, we might find something", Clark nodded, as the two sped towards the files, speed-reading through all of them, and not finding anything that was actually useful.

"Okay, I think these files don't have anymore than what Chloe and Tess told me", Clark said with a sigh, before his hearing picked up a low hum. "There is something here."

"What?" Bart inquired, as Clark sped to the direction of the sound, Bart running after him. As they stopped, they saw a metallic machine made in the shape of a sphere, and Clark could tell that the hum was coming from this thing.

"Now that's new", Bart commented.

"This must be something Lex made to control the power of the wormhole", Clark noted, as he moved his hand forth, touching the empty space in the middle of the sphere.

Suddenly, blue energy appeared, and there was a shockwave, before a huge blue portal opened, seeming to suck everything in bit by bit, including the ground and the warehouse.

Clark tried to fly off, but the portal was still pulling him in, as well as Bart.

"Run Bart, run!" Clark said to him, Bart trying to run off, but as he tried to increase his speed, the voice was heard once more.

"Baaaart!"

Hearing that, Bart stopped running on purpose, as Clark was sucked into the portal, and Bart was sucked in after him, still glowing with the Speed Force lightning which seemed to mix with the portal's energy.

And next moment, there was another shockwave which was a mix of the portal's energy and Speed Force energy, that caused the entire warehouse to crumble.

Earth-199999

Blue energy as well as Speed Force energy appeared in the sky all of a sudden, and then there was a shockwave as Clark and Bart fell out of the portal which closed.

The shockwave struck a plane flying over the Atlantic, and it went off course, slowly starting to spiral downwards.

Avengers Tower

Tony was tinkering with a new suit when he heard a beeping sound, and JARVIS said. "Flight crashing over the Atlantic Ocean, sir."

"Time to suit up", Tony quipped as the Mark XLIII suit flew onto him, attaching itself to his body, and then, he flew off into the sky at Mach speeds.

Clark steadied himself, and looked down to see Bart falling. Flying downwards, Clark grabbed Bart, then looked up at the crashing plane.

"Can you hold on to me, Bart?" Clark inquired.

"Yeah, I can do my best, amigo", Bart commented, as Clark shifted the speedster behind, and Bart then held onto Clark's neck, while Clark flew up towards the plane now.

"And now I get to see you save a plane, eh?" Bart quipped, Clark chuckling as he got close to the plane, and using both his hands, grasped it, slowly steadying it, stopping the shaking first.

"Not the first time I've done this", Clark told his friend. "Just need to find a place to land this thing now."

Tony had just arrived, and he saw Clark flying with the plane, Bart holding onto him.

"Now who is that guy?" Tony commented.

"No facial recognition for either of them, sir."

"Huh?" Tony wondered, while he saw JARVIS scanning the bodies of Clark and Bart.

"There are strange energies within both of them, sir. The man in the cape seems to have a high concentration of solar radiation within him, and his physiology is not human. The other one, I cannot tell what form of energy it is."

"Anything else, J?" Tony asked.

"I pick up something strange in their bodies, sir."

Tony flew after Clark who was holding the plane, and soon enough, they reached Coney Island, where Clark gently set the plane down.

He then walked away, Bart finally letting go of him, while the people ran out of the plane, seeing who their savior was.

There was relief on their faces, as well as surprise, considering no one had ever seen these two before.

"He saved you, peeps", Bart gestured to Clark. "You can thank him."

"Well, I certainly hope this little incident hasn't put you off flying", Clark started saying. "Statistically speaking, of course, its still the safest way to travel."

One of the people started clapping, soon joined by another, then another, and finally, everyone saved from the plane crash were clapping happily for their savior.

Clark simply nodded at them, then looked up to see Tony hovering in the air.

Grasping Bart, Clark flew up, facing Tony now as both hovered in the air.

"Who the hell are you?" Tony asked the two of them.

Clark and Bart shared a look, realizing this guy really did not recognize them, then looked back at him as the former asked. "I take it you never heard of Superman?"

"A bit arrogant, catchy name though", Tony shrugged.

"There is cellular decay in their bodies, sir."

Tony noticed that too, and started. "Umm, you might want to hold on to-"

Only, before he could finish, Bart suddenly seemed to look like he was glitching as he wigged out, groaning, while the same happened to Clark, but he gritted his teeth, managing to resist it, while holding Bart tightly so that he would not fall down.

When the two were done with the wigging, Bart panted, trying to process what had just happened to it. "I was vibrating, man. And not in the good way like I do with my speed."

"It felt pretty…deadly", Clark commented.

Tony put a hand on Clark's shoulder. "I know you're an alien, but if I try to help, promise you won't try to conquer the world?"

"How do you know that?" Clark inquired.

Tony's helmeted head gestures to the cape. "Humans don't wear capes, unless it's Shakespeare in the park."

That caused both Clark and Bart to chuckle, the latter saying. "I don't think there's any harm frankly."

Clark looked at Tony. "I think I'm in another world."

"Yeah, I think I got that", Tony shrugged. "Anyways, come on, follow me."

He flew off, as Clark asked Bart. "You sure we can trust this guy?"

"Well, even if we can't, with your powers, he'd be toast, especially since he doesn't know what you are or what your weakness is, amigo", Bart pointed out.

"Point there", Clark agreed, before flying after Tony. "Why were we wigging out like that, though?"

"Not sure, metal man seems to know though", Bart shrugged. "Maybe when we get to wherever he is taking us, we can ask him properly."

"Yeah", Clark nodded, hoping that if the guy was a threat, the wigging out did not stop them from managing to take him out.

Earth-1, Star City

Oliver as the Green Arrow jumped down, seeing two corpses before he turned around, pulled out his bow and aimed at a man who'd tattooed cards on his arms. "Get on the ground."

"Thanks for coming, by the way", the man smirked. "Ms. Fayad wasn't sure it would work, but I knew you couldn't turn down a good old-fashioned robbery."

The man peeled off a card from his skin, another growing back in its place, while he threw it at Oliver. Oliver fired an arrow, but the card split it, and embedded behind him. Oliver turned to see it was a real playing card, and then realized the man was running, so he ran after him.

The man threw some cards that shattered the glasses of some cars, but Oliver kept dodging before taking cover.

"You ready to call this yet?" The man taunted.

At that moment, the masked man grabbed him from behind and flipped him over, throwing him down, then kicked him as he rolled away.

Getting up, he tried to hurl a card, but the masked man ducked before rolling, kicking the card man away with both feet. As he tried to get up, Oliver was upon him, whacking his face with his bow, then spinning and striking his throat, before kicking his gut as he fell down.

"Now you can call it."

The man smirked. "The game's not over yet." He reached behind his back, only for the masked man to grab the hands, and twist as they broke, making him scream in pain.

"I'd say it is", he shrugged.

At that moment, the window shattered, an arrow flying right towards the man, but he caught it before it could hit him.

Oliver looked up to see Takeo aiming, and he fired again. Oliver fired back, his arrow deflecting that of Takeo.

"Takeo, you don't need to do this", Oliver said as Takeo fired again, Oliver taking cover.

"I do", Takeo snarled, about to take out another arrow, when Oliver fired, and it struck the strap of Takeo's quiver, making it fall down, spilling the arrows everywhere.

"Nice shot", the masked man complimented. "This is what I was talking about."

"Guess so", Oliver said, when Takeo jumped down from where he was, taking out his katana that he whirled before striking Oliver, who used his bow to block, then kicked Takeo back.

Takeo swept Oliver's feet from under him, and made to strike again, only for the masked man to kick him away. Takeo rolled and got up, before trying to strike the masked man with his katana. The masked man dodged some blows, then grabbed Takeo's hand, before punching him on the face, and in a whirling motion, disarmed him of the katana.

Takeo used the opportunity to kick the man away, then turned around, barely avoiding a blow by Oliver, only for Oliver to spin and elbow his face, before striking at his feet, making him fall down.

He aimed an arrow at Takeo. "Stand down."

Suddenly, all the windows burst open, and ARGUS Agents jumped in. To Oliver's shock, they aimed at the masked man. "You need to come with us."

"What?" The masked man looked at them. "Why?"

"We will tell you when you get there", one agent said in reply.

"Why do you want him?" Oliver asked.

"This doesn't concern you", the agent sneered at him.

"I'd say it does", Oliver replied.

"Stand down", the agent warned Oliver.

Taking the opportunity, the masked man grabbed the agent's gun and whacked his face, before getting behind him, now pointing the gun directly at his head, having snatched it from him.

This distracted the other agents, and taking the opportunity, Oliver fired an arrow that stuck to the wall, and started giving out a gas that made all the agents cough and stagger around.

Oliver and the man were being affected too, but Oliver was prepared, so rushing towards the man, he said. "Grab on."

The man did, and Oliver fired a grapple arrow, using it to swing away with the man, as they reached another rooftop, and from there, they ran, jumping across some more rooftops until they were away from the agents.

"Who were those?" The man asked.

"ARGUS Agents", Oliver growled. "They wanted you for some reason."

"Any idea why?" The man inquired.

"No, but I'll find out", Oliver told him. "Thanks for your help there."

"Its fine", he shrugged.

"Takeo got away again though", Oliver sighed, before offering the man. "You can come with me if you'd like."

"Offer's appreciated, but not right now", the man sighed. "Still, good to see you fight like you used to before."

Oliver smirked, as the man told him. "Anyways, while I'm not coming with you, since I know who you are, I'll tell you who I am."

And with that, he took off his mask, revealing to Oliver he was a handsome man, with a rough, battle-hardened face, and very long hair.

"Name's Eliot Spencer", Eliot introduced himself, holding out his hand to Oliver. "Former Black Ops."

"Oliver Queen", Oliver shook his hand. "But you knew that already."

"Yeah", Eliot chuckled as they dropped hands.

"Well, you don't need to come with me, but I can take you somewhere you can hide out for a bit", Oliver offered.

"Sure thing", Eliot shrugged.

Later

Oliver and Eliot entered the safehouse, Eliot looking around at it. "Looks pretty stocked to me."

"Someone I know hid out here for a while", Oliver told Eliot as he walked to the window. "You can use it for now."

"Thanks", Eliot said. "Guess we'll be seeing each other soon."

"Oh we will, I need to know why ARGUS is after you", Oliver said.

Later

Oliver was calling someone on the phone, and the person picked up.

"Hello Oliver. I heard you fought my agents tonight", Amanda Waller said in her usual snarky tone.

"They were trying to take away someone in my city", Oliver growled. "Why?"

"This doesn't concern you."

"I think it does", Oliver growled. "Stay away from him."

"You stay away from the interloper, Oliver, and nothing will happen to you."

"Interloper?" Oliver questioned.

"A few months ago, there was a Singularity above Central City. It opened portals between our world, and other worlds. Those who find their way to this world are called interlopers by us. Your new friend here is one too. He is nothing to you, so I advise you stand down and let us do our job."

"You're welcome to try and take him", Oliver growled as he cut the call, then turned to see Felicity and Dig come in.

"The meta has been arrested, but he's not talking", Felicity said.

"Where were you tonight, Diggle?" Oliver asked him.

"I had my reasons", Diggle said.

"Huh? So I guess only I'm not allowed to keep secrets", Oliver said, taking Diggle aback.

"Oliver, I-"

"No, this has gotten beyond old now", Oliver told both of them. "I have tried to be better, I've tried to give you space, Diggle, but you go around and do all the things that you accuse me of doing. Now, either you're gonna have the same rules for the both of us, or I'm going to do it alone."

"You don't really mean that, Oliver", Felicity tried to interject.

"Actually, I do", Oliver told her. "I know you're trying to be reasonable to both sides, Felicity, but I'm not taking this anymore."

Diggle sighed. "Guess I should tell you then. There's this person, Mina Fayad-"

"Fayad?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah."

"The meta-human mentioned her", Oliver said. "Go on."

And Diggle did.

Earth-199999, New York City, Avengers Tower

"Wow, this place is something else", Bart said, looking at the tower, very impressed, and seeing Tony's suits in the corner. "Those yours?"

"Yeah, they're all mine", Tony shrugged. "I made 'em."

"He is like Oliver, but with suits instead of bow and arrows", Bart whispered to Clark, who had to agree to the comparison.

"So, this is my place", Tony said, the suit coming off of him, revealing his face to the two of them. "I am Tony Stark. Genius, billionaire, philanthropist."

"Right", Clark nodded. "So, do you know how we wigged out?"

"Well, I got this info a while ago", Tony started. "But, we're apparently having visitors from other worlds around, is that right?"

"Wow, you got that fast", Bart quipped, making Tony chuckle.

"Yeah, so you two are from one of these other worlds", Tony noted. "And I guess the way that sent you here wasn't exactly natural."

"Lex's machine", Clark realized. "It was trying to control the energy of the portals."

"Yeah, so, anyways, because of that, the longer you stay here, the higher the chance of you both disintegrating on a cellular level."

Both of them looked alarmed, as Tony told Clark. "But you're holding up really well from the scans, I must say."

"Can you stop it?" Clark asked.

"Yeah, about that", Tony said, as the doors opened, four more people walking in. One was a tall blonde and handsome man, wearing a suit with the colors of the US Flag painted on it. Another was a red-haired woman in a black suit, along with a medium-sized man in a black suit as well, and a man in glasses with a lab coat.

"What's this about, Tony?" The man wearing the US Flag suit asked.

"These are our visitors from another world, Captain", Tony introduced them. "Guys, these are my teammates. We're the Avengers, we save the world, or avenge it if we can't."

"We have a team like that too where we're from", Clark said. "We call ourselves the Justice League."

"Hmm, nice name", the red-haired woman quipped.

"I am Steve Rogers, they call me Captain America", Cap held out his hand, Clark shaking it.

"I can see why", Clark said as both chuckled, while he shook hands with Bart too.

"I am Clint Barton, Hawkeye", the other man gave his introduction.

"Natasha Romanoff. Black Widow", the woman introduced herself as well.

"I am Doctor Bruce Banner. And I have…another guy inside me. He is called the Hulk", the man in the lab coat gave his introduction.

"Yeah, and I'm Iron Man", Tony finished introductions.

"My name is Clark Kent, where I am from, they call me Superman", Clark said.

"I can see why", Steve echoed Clark's words, making them both chuckle again.

"There's two of them now", Natasha whispered to Clint, who had to agree.

"Bart Allen. Impulse", Bart introduced himself as well.

"So, we're gonna find out if there's a way to stop your disintegration, and try to send you back", Banner finally said.

"We'd very much appreciate that", Clark nodded.

Central City, S.T.A.R. Labs

"This is some strange clothing", Strider said, looking at the grey shirt of Barry he had been given to wear here, alongside some black trousers. Not to mention, they were slightly small for him due to how tall and well-built he was, but they still managed to fit.

"Sorry, it's the best I could do for you right now", Barry told him, the two alongside the rest of the team walked to the basem*nt of the place, looking at a breach there.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" Barry commented.

"Still can't believe what I'm looking at", Jay had to say.

"So many breaches in Central City, and the biggest one just happens to be in our basem*nt", Barry commented.

Cisco quipped. "We need a name for it."

"It's not a pet, Cisco", Caitlin gently chided him.

"No, it's a wormhole."

They turned to see Professor Stein walk in, some machinery to measure blood pressure strapped to him.

"Professor Stein, what are you doing?" Caitlin asked in shock. "Your blood pressure is 147 over 82! You could pass out again."

Stein was nonchalant. "Oh, it's merely a few points above the 140 average for someone my age. Besides, I have some ideas I would like to contribute to this discussion, Dr. Snow."

"And I want to hear them", Jay spoke up. "This isn't just a wormhole. It could be my way home. Back to Earth Two."

Barry inquired. "Jay, you really think that we can use this as some kind of bridge from your world to ours?"

"Zoom uses the breaches. Why can't we?" Jay shrugged.

"We don't know how. Everything I put through just bounces back", Cisco pointed out.

"So, these 'breaches' as you are calling them", Strider spoke up. "One can fall through from one world to another, but it is harder to use one to travel back, is that right?"

"Yeah, looks like it", Barry shrugged.

"And why are we to believe this one leads to your world then?" Strider turned to Jay. "It could lead to another one too."

"I figured my Earth has a S.T.A.R. Labs just like this one, so that's why this breach leads is a bridge between our worlds", Jay shrugged what he believed, and Strider nodded.

But he just did not find this explanation satisfactory.

"If Zoom's using these breaches to transport people from Earth Two, maybe it takes a speedster", Barry said, then sped out of the room.

"He's not gonna- -"

"Yeah, he is."

Barry sped in, running towards the breach, but was thrown off and fell down, Strider helping him up.

"Maybe I'm not fast enough."

"I don't believe your speed is the entirety of the issue, Barry", Stein pointed out. "It might be the breach's stability or lack thereof."

"He's right", Jay agreed. "We need to think of the breach as a door, and on Earth Two, there's another door. In between, we have a hallway, but the hallway's constantly shifting, twisting, collapsing upon itself."

"And the doors keep moving with it", Barry noted.

"That would mean that even if this breach does lead to Jay's world, it could lead somewhere else if we try to use it without thinking", Strider had another point. "And like Jay has said, travelling through it now would be like trying to climb the Misty Mountains when the Stone Giants are battling."

"I did not say that", Jay raised a hand.

"Okay, I do not know what Stone Giants are, and I don't want to know, but I think you and I are gonna get along very well", Cisco told Strider, amazed by how quickly he was getting the science in spite of being a medieval man.

Strider simply nodded at the praise, while Cisco told the rest. "So we stabilize the door, we stabilize the hallway."

"And then I can jump through it", Barry smirked.

"Exactly, it would serve as a kind of cannon", Jay noted. "A speed cannon."

"Mm", Cisco pointed between himself and Jay. "We should hang out more."

"All right. No more tests today", Stein started moving off. "All of you are leaving now, as am I. Cherish the gift of youth as I will go cherish my much-needed nap. Clarissa's already on her way to pick me up."

"I do believe you should be resting", Strider said to Stein. "You are no use to the others if you are not well."

"And that's why I'm going to my wife so I can rest with her, Strider, but thank you for the concern", Stein said, walking away.

Later, CC Jitters

"Where I am from, we have inns, but there is nothing of this sort", Strider told Cisco as he looked around at the coffee shop. "A shop just to sell coffee."

"So, they have coffee where you are from?" Cisco inquired.

"It is quite good", Strider confirmed. "But we did not have any kind of crevice that could make coffee. What manner of wizardry did this?"

"No wizardry, just science", Cisco told him.

"I still have a lot to learn I must say", Strider noted.

"I can't believe it, a medieval man standing in front of me", Iris said, looking Strider up and down, finding him the perfect specimen.

"Iris!" Caitlin chided her, as she was being rude by calling Strider a 'medieval man' and looking at him like that.

"Sorry", Iris winced, while Strider turned to see Barry speaking with the woman they had rescued earlier.

"Is that not the lady we rescued?" Strider remembered.

"Yeah, that's Patty, she is a detective now", Cisco confirmed.

"And what is a detective?" Strider asked now.

"Well, they are part of the police, who find clues when a crime is committed, and try to find the culprit", Cisco explained.

"Thank you", Strider nodded. "In a sense, they are like 'Inquisitors' then. The police make me think of the Shirriffs in the Shire."

"I'd love to visit your world sometime, when we find a way to it", Cisco said excitedly, Strider smiling.

Barry then came to the table, putting five cups down. "All right, five Flashes."

"Be careful-apparently, they are super-caffeinated", Barry said. "First I have a day named after me. Now I have a drink."

"The people are showing they are grateful for what you've done for them", Strider told him. "They mat not know who this Flash is, but they know there is a Flash, protecting them from those who use their gifts for evil."

It was silent for a few seconds, Barry grateful for Strider's praise, when Caitlin asked. "Hey, you guys think Professor Stein is okay, right? I mean, Clarissa would call if there was anything wrong."

"Yeah."

"All right. I'm just gonna call and check in. I'll be back." She walked off.

"Uh- I don't see that call going well", Cisco commented.

"She is just concerned", Strider pointed out, drinking the coffee. "This tastes quite well." Then someone bumped into Cisco.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize", the woman turned to face him. "You can bump into me any day, Cisco."

Cisco exhaled. "Lisa Snart."

"So, the two of you are familiar with each other?" Strider asked, but Cisco and Lisa kept looking at each other.

"You here to double-cross us again, or are you and your big bro holding up coffee shops now?" Cisco asked.

"I need your help."

"In your dreams, Sister Cold. You know I could call The Flash. He'd be here in like two seconds-probably one", Cisco shrugged as he took out his phone. "And there are others who can help me too."

"Call them", Lisa shrugged.

"Oh, okay. I'm gonna call him. Mm-hmm", Cisco scrolled through the phone. "You really want me to call The Flash?"

"I need his help too", Lisa said, then revealed why. "My brother's been kidnapped."

Later, STAR Labs

"All right, so you really want us to just believe that Captain Cold was kidnapped?" Barry, dressed as the Flash, asked Lisa.

"I saw it happen", Lisa insisted. "Last night, Lenny, me, and Mick were knocking over the cashier's cage at Central City Racetrack."

"Does it physically pain your family not to rob people?" Caitlin asked with a wince.

"I never finished the job", Lisa shrugged.

"You can try to live without hurting other people", Strider told her, and she sighed, before continuing her story.

"After Mick torched through the side entrance, I looked back for Lenny and saw him getting thrown into the back of a van", Lisa revealed.

"And why didn't you and Mick follow?"

"I would have", Lisa said. "Someone hit me from behind and knocked me out. When I came to, Lenny was gone, and Mick already made off with the cash."

"How do we know this isn't some kind of a trap?" Caitlin inquired.

"If Lenny wanted Flash dead, he would have let Mardon, Simmons, and Bivolo take that honor, remember?" Lisa reminded them.

"Yeah, I remember", Barry nodded.

"Good", Lisa shrugged. "Then you'll also recall that you owe Lenny a favor for saving your life. Time to make good on that debt, Flash."

"I do not like her", Caitlin snarled.

"Yeah, but she makes a point", Cisco said.

Barry and Caitlin looked at him incredulously.

"What? We should at least hear her out. Right?"

"Who are these Mardon, Simmons and Bivolo, and when did your brother save Flash from them?" Strider asked the important question.

"So, we have a prison down here", Barry started. "But, our enemy at the time, he had a plan with the prison which would have hurt the prisoners, so we decided to move them to a different prison, with help from Lisa and her brother Leonard. But, Leonard betrayed us, and let them lose on the way. They could have killed us, but Leonard didn't let that happen, and said I owe him."

"He keeps his word. I don't know who Flash is behind the mask, and I'm his sister!" Lisa reminded.

"He is a thief, and it was wrong of him to let those prisoners out", Strider noted, before turning to Barry. "However, he did not let you die. I have seen worse than him, my friend. Perhaps you should look into this."

Barry sighed, turning back to Lisa, before Strider asked. "And you all have your own prison?"

"Yeah", Caitlin nodded.

"Were you permitted by someone to imprison them here?" Strider asked next.

"Uhhh….no?" Caitlin shook her head lamely.

"Then is it not wrong to imprison people here for too long?" Strider asked, and Barry, Cisco and Caitlin looked visibly uncomfortable on hearing that.

"Yeah, I thought you guys were the heroes but that prison sounds inhumane", Lisa had to say, getting looks from them.

"I guess we'll have to think more on that once this is done", Barry noted. "How do we find him?"

"Oh, I've a way", Cisco said as he started typing.

Later, STAR Labs

"So your brother was not kidnapped", Barry told Lisa. "He was pulling a job with your father."

"What?" Lisa looked genuinely shocked. "No, Lenny would never do that."

"Oh, just like he would never try and kill The Flash with his cold gun", Caitlin said sarcastically.

"Are you sure it was my dad?" Lisa inquired.

Cisco typed on the computer, and the man's image came up.

"That's him", Barry said.

"Lewis Snart", Caitlin read out. "Convicted of larceny, armed robbery, aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon."

Strider simply looked at Lisa's face. The way she was looking at the picture of her father, she was angry and scared at once.

"You have to believe me", Lisa told the rest. "Lenny would never work with him. He's a bad guy."

"You and your entire family are criminals", Caitlin pointed out. "Why should we trust anything you say?"

As they all stood together, Lisa moved her jacket out of the way, and lowered her shirt's sleeve, revealing a scar.

"I didn't get this scar being a criminal. I got it being a daughter."

Team Flash now looked guilty, as Lisa walked off.

Barry made to walk after her but Cisco stopped him. "Let me go. I got this."

Cisco found Lisa in his workshop. "I see you found my hiding spot." As Lisa looked at him, he told her. "This is usually where I come to, you know, get away."

Turning away, Lisa said. "First time my father came after me, I was seven. Second time, I was eight. That's when I learned that a bottle hurts worse than a fist." Cisco listened with sympathy as she told him. "He used to say he was trying to teach us lessons. I must have been a slow learner, because the lessons never stopped."

Cisco walked up next to her. "I'm sorry, Lisa."

"Lenny practically raised me", Lisa said. "If it weren't for him, I would have turned out a lot worse."

He tilted his head, and she asked. "I know, how could I be any worse?"

Cisco chuckled. "I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to", Lisa sighed. "But believe me, there is worse. And, look, he may be a jerk brother, but he's the only jerk brother I've got. He protected me. Now it's my turn. If he's with my dad, he is in serious trouble. Please. You've gotta find out what's going on."

At that moment, Strider walked in, as he said. "I apologize for having overheard some of this."

Lisa just shook her head, as Strider told her. "You have my respect for what you went through."

She just nodded before Strider noted. "From what you say, your brother loves you and would do anything to protect you."

He looked to Cisco. "Perhaps their father threatened her life to make her brother work for him."

"But, how did he threaten her exactly?" Cisco inquired.

"That is what we should think about", Strider shrugged.

"So, we explained phones to you, right?" Cisco asked Strider.

"Yes, you did. Something like that is genuinely needed in Middle-earth amongst many of us."

"Wait, why did you have to explain phones to him?" Lisa asked in confusion, but was ignored.

"You think he has a man watching Lisa who'd kill her if Leonard does not help him?" Cisco suggested.

"I do not think so", Strider said. "I would know if there was someone watching us."

"Then how?" Cisco wondered as he walked off, Strider and Lisa following him until they reached the cortex once more.

"Lisa", Caitlin started. "I'm sorry for what I-"

"Its fine", Lisa shrugged her off.

"Strider says that daddy Snart might be threatening Lisa's life here somehow to make Captain Cold work for him", Cisco told Barry and Caitlin. "How do you think that is?"

Barry ran out and returned in a second. "Well, no one is watching us here."

"Strider already confirmed that", Cisco said.

"Oh!"

"Maybe he has some manner of powers too", Strider suggested.

"No, we know he does not", Lisa confirmed.

"Then what could it be?" Caitlin wondered. "Maybe he hired someone who does."

Barry's line of thought led him through a lot of things. There could be a meta-human, or, as a scientist, he was inclined to think there could be something else involved as well.

Leonard was smart enough to tinker with the Cold Gun that Cisco Ramon had made, which meant there was every possibility that Lewis was just as smart.

But, what could he have done to make Leonard work for him?

Then, he suddenly had a stray thought. Oliver had told him once how Waller made the Suicide Squad follow her lead.

And then his eyes widened in horror.

"Cisco." Cisco turned to Barry.

"Yeah?"

"Could you scan Lisa's head for any thermite?"

"What?"

"Just do it."

A while later, Cisco was using a machine to scan Lisa's head, and the screen said 'Thermite Detected', as he muttered. "Oh, boy."

"What is it?" Lisa asked, confused.

Caitlin tried to break it to her gently. "Lisa, there are traces of thermite on your skin."

"Thermite?" Lisa looked alarmed. "Like an explosive?"

Caitlin wasn't sure how to break it to her. "Not like an explosive."

"It's a bomb", Cisco said, Caitlin having wide eyes while Lisa turned to look at him in horror, while he realized when this was put in her head. "When you were knocked out, your dad must have injected you with it."

"What is a bomb?" Aragorn inquired.

"Well, a bomb contains within it many chemicals and other stuff", Barry explained. "And when all of it reacts with each other, they release a huge amount of energy like heat, light, sound and pressure. It is very destructive."

"It sounds like one of Gandalf's fireworks, but it can kill", Strider realized what it was. He looked up, looking quite disturbed, which prevented Cisco from asking about fireworks.

A man who was beating his own daughter, and was even willing to kill her in this way, it really put Strider out.

"We will have to stop him", Strider finally said.

"Its not going to be easy", Barry pointed out.

"My friend, this man does not know that I am with you", Strider reminded Barry. "I can help you in stopping him."

"And if he kills me?" Lisa asked.

"I will not let that happen", Strider assured her.

"Hey, so you've bow and arrows, right?" Barry asked Strider.

"I do."

"I think we can do something then", Barry smirked.

Leonard, Lewis and their tech guy Rutenberg were planning their heist as Rutenberg told Lewis. "That Draycon Systems keypad's gonna be a problem."

"Fine", Lewis chuckled, then turned to Leonard. "How about you? You gonna disappoint me too, or is that freeze gun of yours gonna look after the power source for the laser grid?"

"It's a cold gun, and yes, but I have a better way to get past the lasers", Leonard told his father.

Rutenberg started. "That gun is the only reason you're here, so shut up before I make you—"

Lewis took out a device, about to press the button, only for a blur to speed in, snatching it from him.

They turned to see Barry standing there in his Flash suit, holding up the device. "Its over Lewis."

"So you're back now, eh?" Lewis sneered.

"Flash", Leonard raised his gun.

Barry just nodded at Snart, then turned to Lewis, asking in disgust. "What kind of man puts a bomb in his own daughter's head?"

Realizing Barry knew what was going on, Snart slowly started lowering his Cold Gun, while Lewis took out another device, this one clearly meant to blow up the bomb in Lisa's head.

"Very rich man", he said casually, before looking at Leonard. "Kill him, or you'll never see your sister alive."

At that moment, an arrow whistled through the air, and struck Lewis in the wrist, in a very important nerve, making him gasp in pain.

And then, Strider jumped down, dressed like a Ranger once more, his cloak flowing behind him, while he nocked another arrow. "You will not be able to slay her now."

"Who…who are you?" Lewis asked in pain, when Strider fired another arrow, which struck Lewis in the other wrist's nerve, causing him to scream in pain once more.

"Never in my life have I seen a man who would hurt his own children just because he is angry or he drinks", Strider said sadly, lowering his bow, remembering how Lord Elrond had raised him as his own even though he was not his child by blood. So a father who was hitting his children by blood, it shook Strider to his core, as he realized just how bad some Men could be. "If we were in my world, I would have slain you."

Leonard turned his Cold Gun on his father at that point, only for Barry to say. "Don't do it!"

"He deserves it", Leonard snarled

"Indeed", Strider agreed. "But in spite of all that he has done, he is still your father. Do you really believe you can slay him and live afterwards? It will haunt you, Leonard. Do not do this, do not let your rage and hatred cloud you."

For a while, Leonard has his gun trained on his father, his hand shaking. But Strider's words got through, and he lowered his hand.

Lewis started. "You're just a disap-"

He was cut off when Snart whacked his face, knocking him out, and Barry did the same to Rutenberg.

And then Barry turned to Snart, who simply nodded. "I guess I should thank you, Barry."

"No, I should thank you, because I know your secret now", Barry shrugged.

"Which is?"

"You'd do anything to protect your sister, Snart", Barry told him.

"Well, I know your secret too, Barry. Better hope I don't drink and slip up", Snart sneered.

"You won't." Barry sounded very confident. "Today just proved what I've always known. There's good in you, Snart. And you don't have to admit it to me, but there's a part of you that knows you don't have to let your past define you. A part of you that really wants to be more than just a criminal."

"So I should be a hero like you, Barry?" Snart asked with a smirk. "What exactly does that pay again?"

"You let Barry live once even when you could have let him die", Strider reminded Leonard. "There is much more you can do rather than just trying to rob people."

"I wish I could, but I like it that way", Snart shrugged.

"If you say so", Strider sighed, though from what he was seeing, there was good inside Snart. He just wasn't ready to admit it yet.

"We'll be taking the bomb out of your sister, then you two can do whatever you want, as long as no one dies", Barry warned Snart, who simply smirked.

"I'll do my best, Barry." He turned to Strider. "And who are you? Not that I don't appreciate you shooting my old man like that."

"I am Strider", Strider simply said, before walking off with Barry.

"Guess that's one problem down", Barry sighed. "We still have Michael Myers to deal with though."

"The murderer, right?" Strider asked, Barry nodding. "Where would he be right now?"

"He is not a meta, so can't really track him", Barry commented. "Joe will let us know if there is something."

Lloyd walked outside his home, looking at the protective detail, as he spoke to their lead. "Ya know, I don't think this is needed, officer."

"Michael Myers is after you, officer, and from what we know, he is as dangerous as any other meta", the lead cop shrugged. "So I'd say this is totally needed."

"If you need any refreshments, let me know", Lloyd said before going back inside, realizing it was pointless to argue.

"Ya think he'll show?" Another cop asked the lead cop.

"Right now, I think anything can be-"

At that moment, someone jumped from the top of the house, and stabbed the cop right in the head with a knife, the weapon going deep into the brain.

The other cops nearby gasped, the blood splattering on the two closest ones, while the cop's body was convulsing violently.

Michael Myers pulled the knife out, dropping the body, before turning to the other cops. One of them fired at him, only for Michael to stab him in the face, while the rest covered the door.

They fired at Michael, who grunted, staggering back, but moved towards them. Michael stabbed one of them and lifted him into the air, then hurled him away.

As one of them was about to pull the trigger, Michael kicked him so hard he hit the door and broke it, and the impact of the fall made his hand turn at the last moment as he shot himself.

"Michael, stop!" Lloyd said as he held out a gun too, the other cops slowly walking inside and spreading out. As Michael walked forth, Lloyd shot him in the head, and this time, he went down.

Lloyd still held out his gun, while one cop walked towards Michael to check.

"No, stay away from him!" Lloyd warned the cop.

The cop just knelt near Michael, then turned to Lloyd. "He looks dead to me."

At that moment, Michael got up and grabbing the cop, sliced his throat, before dropping him as the other cops continued to fire at him.

Lloyd rushed at Michael and kicked him on the face, staggering him back, then pistol-whipped him, slightly turning his head the other way.

"f*ck you, Michael", Lloyd snarled as he tried to fire again, but Michael swung his knife, and managed to cut Lloyd on the wrist, making him drop the gun, before punching him away.

Then, he grabbed one cop and slammed his head onto the wall, before stabbing him in the back of the neck, killing him.

The two remaining cops continued to fire at Michael, but he grabbed one, and stabbed him repeatedly until he was dead.

Then, he took that one's gun, and throwing his knife down, grabbed the last cop by the throat, slamming him to the wall.

After that, Michael stabbed the cop with the gun, now hanging him on the wall like he was a morbid decoration, while blood poured out of the cop's mouth before he lost his life.

Michael then knelt down, picking up his knife, but as he got up, Lloyd struck at him with an ax, getting his shoulder. In retaliation, Michael swung his knife, cutting Lloyd's sleeve and shoulder, throwing him down.

Lloyd got up, backing off into another room, the ax still stuck to Michael's shoulder, who pulled it out and threw it away.

And then, Michael walked into the room where Lloyd had gone off to, looking around, finding a table there, and an open window.

Michael walked towards the window first, looking down, but saw no sign of Lloyd.

In the meantime, Lloyd was hidden underneath the table, not making a sound. He could hear Michael's footsteps, and knew he had not bought the open window ruse.

Lloyd slowly started crawling out from underneath the table, only to see Michael looking down on him from above it. Michael swung, causing Lloyd to roll to the other side, and Michael was there as well, swinging again, forcing Lloyd to roll and dodge.

Michael leapt off the table and hurled it away, while Lloyd rolled and got up, grabbing a wooden chair that he slammed to the ground, breaking it off. Picking up a big piece with a pointy end, Lloyd charged at Michael, stabbing his shoulder, making Michael fall down.

Before he could get up, Lloyd hurled another large piece at him, and then ran off, reaching his kitchen. He shut the door and rushed to a cabinet, opening it to see many knives.

The door was broken down, causing Lloyd to break off the cabinet and drop all the knives down. As Michael walked towards him, Lloyd threw one knife towards him, though Michael dodged. Lloyd continued to throw knife after knife towards his uncle, but Michael dodged each one.

As he reached closer, Lloyd lifted up the cabinet, and put it in the way when Michael stabbed downwards, causing the cabinet to block the knife, even though it went through it. Lloyd then kneed Michael, who hurled him away using the stuck knife like a lever.

Michael tried to pull his knife out, and in that time, Lloyd picked up another knife and ran out. Michael got his knife out, then walked out of the room, reaching a long hallway with some openings.

As he walked ahead, Lloyd jumped out of one opening and stabbed Michael on the shoulder. As Michael tried to fight back, Lloyd pulled the knife out and stabbed again, and then he continued to stab, pushing Michael back bit by bit, before they reached a window, and shattering it, Michael fell outside of the house.

Lloyd looked out, seeing Michael lying prone, completely unmoving.

Sighing, he sank to his knees, taking out his phone and messaging Joe about what had happened. He hadn't gotten the time to do it before due to Michael's sudden entrance, and Lloyd trying to help the detail in fighting him.

After the message was sent, Lloyd got back up, and looked out of the window.

Halloween main theme plays

To Lloyd's shock, Michael was gone, though there was an imprint where he'd been lying.

Quickly running to another cabinet, Lloyd opened it, taking out a shotgun, and then he ran around the house, trying to seal every entrance.

Reaching a glass window, Lloyd looked down just to check. At that moment, hands burst through the window, grabbing Lloyd and shattering the glass, before pulling him out and hurling him away.

Lloyd tried to aim his shotgun, only for Michael to grab the barrel. Lloyd pulled the trigger, and two of Michael's fingers were blown off, making him stagger back.

Before Michael could do anything else, a blur sped in, knocking him away, and then Barry stood there as Flash. "This time you're not getting away, Michael."

Michael got up, trying to lunge at Barry with his knife, but an arrow struck the knife, knocking it away, and he turned to see Strider lowering his bow.

"You are not killing anyone again", Strider told him, drawing his sword. As Michael charged Strider, Strider weaved away, dodging his attempted strike, and sliced his abdomen, then kicked his chest, sending him down.

Michael tried to get up, but Barry ran around him in circles.

"What's he doing?" Lloyd asked.

"He is going to stop him", Strider told Lloyd, as Barry slowed down, and with a roar, hurled a lightning bolt at Michael.

It struck the murderer, making him roll away, his body burnt and singed, as he was finally knocked out.

Barry stopped, Strider walking up next to him. "Now I believe we have stopped him at last."

"Yeah", Barry nodded, as they heard cop cars pull up. "Time to go."

Grabbing Strider, Barry sped away, while Joe ran towards Lloyd. "Officer Lloyd, are you all right?"

"Yes", Lloyd nodded. "But the rest are dead."

Patty walked up next to Joe, as Lloyd said. "I told you Michael was going to kill them all!"

"I'm sorry…" Joe sighed, as Lloyd walked off.

Patty looked down at Michael, as Joe said. "He is going to be kept in the meta-human wing."

Later, STAR Labs

"So, Cisco got the bomb out", Lisa said, starting to walk out. "I guess its time to go."

"Your father is in prison now", Strider told Lisa. "I do not believe he is going to escape this time."

"Let's hope so", Lisa shrugged. "Don't wanna deal with him again."

"You may be a thief, but there are things even you are disgusted by", Strider noted, causing Lisa to turn to him. "Perhaps you can change."

"What makes you so sure?" Lisa asked.

"There is always hope", Strider told her. "And I say this after meeting people like your father and Michael, who murdered his sister when he was a child, and was trying to kill others of his blood."

"Ya know, you're insightful", Lisa said with a smirk and wink, before walking off

Later, STAR Labs basem*nt

Caitlin and Jay had finally finished their device, which could allow one to navigate through a breach better. "Tada! The speed cannon."

"Wow!" Cisco said. "Look at that. Dudes, you actually built the thing."

Stein had to say. "Mr. Garrick, I am quiet impressed by what you've accomplished during my recent wellness hiatus."

"Have you tested it out yet?" Cisco inquired.

"Not yet", Jay looked at Cisco. "You wanna do the honors?"

Cisco clapped, picking up a can, only for Stein to say. "No, no, no, no. Now that I, uh- now that I am back to optimum health, please allow me."

Picking up another can, Stein hurled it through the breach, and it disappeared inside. "Excelsior!"

"How did you stabilize it?" Barry inquired.

"CFL Quark Matter", Jay revealed.

"Ah, negative energy density with positive surface pressure", Cisco realized. "That's genius."

"You created CFL Quark Matter?" Barry asked Jay in shock.

"It's something we perfected on my Earth", Jay shrugged. "I'll show you sometime."

"You mean, sometime in the next few minutes?" Stein inquired.

That was when Jay seemed to realize it. "Oh, yeah I guess this is it, huh? Time for me to go back home."

"Right now?" Caitlin asked. "I mean we still need your help with the Breachers."

"My first priority is Zoom", Jay pointed out. "I need to find out what he's up to. How he stole my speed."

Caitlin told him. "But you can do that here and, you know, if you go back, then we can't get in touch with you when we need your help or... with Zoom or whatever else."

Barry smirked, knowing what this was about, and said. "It would be nice to be able to pick your brain every once in a while, get some more speedster tips."

Jay chuckled. "Okay... once we take care of Zoom, I'm going home."

"That's fair."

"Good, 'cause I could use a shower, a shave, and some sunlight." All chuckled. "I'll, uh, see you later." He walked off.

Strider watched after Jay as he went off. He seemed so desperate to get home, why did a few words stop him now? And Strider still did not understand how Jay had figured out that the other side of this breach led to his own home world.

There was more to this.

"So, Professor Stein, how are you feeling?" Caitlin asked him.

"Well, uh, it appears that a little rest heals all maladies. I-I-I couldn't feel—" Stein suddenly snorted and inhaled, seeming to seize.

Caitlin and Cisco rushed towards him. "Professor?"

Barry held them back. "No, no, no, no get back. Come here."

Stein suddenly gasped as flames appeared on his hands and head, and then they turned blue.

"What sorcery is this?" Strider wondered, before the flames disappeared and Stein passed out, the four kneeling over him.

"Professor Stein! Professor Stein! Can you hear me, Professor Stein?" Caitlin inquired.

"What happened to him? He went up like Firestorm, but the flame, why was it blue?" Barry wondered.

Caitlin said. "I don't know. This isn't good. We need to stabilize him fast."

At his home, Lloyd had dialed a number. After a while, the person on the other end picked up.

"Steven?"Tommy Doyle spoke from the other end. "How are you doing in Central City, son?"

"Michael is back, dad", Steven said, and he could tell exactly how his adoptive father was looking right now.

"Oh my God, are you okay, son?"

"I got him, dad", Lloyd said. "I got him. He has been put somewhere he can't get out now."

"Damn!"Tommy said. "Well done, son. What happened?"

"Well….."

Iron Heights

Michael Myers, now without his mask, wearing the prison uniform, sat in his cell, staring at the wall, no indication that he was paying attention to anything else in his eyes.

"You think this is gonna hold him?" Patty asked Joe as the two looked at the murderer.

"It has held worse than him, I think it'll do", Joe sighed, walking off, Patty walking after him.

Star City

Detective Conhanan came out of the police station. He talked to his wife on the phone for a while and then looked up to see an archer watching him.

Conhanan thought it was Green Arrow. "How you doin?", he asked, "Help you with anything?"

In response, the archer fired an arrow that hit his shoulder, making him drop the phone. Conhanan fired at him with his gun but the archer dodged the bullets and threw a shuriken at his gun, making him drop it.

Conhanan tried to run but the archer threw a knife which embedded itself behind his knee, making him fall.

He tried to crawl away but couldn't.

"Green Arrow?" he asked him as he looked up.

But it wasn't him. It was another archer who wore a similar suit except it was black and his mask covered his entire face.

"No!" he said brandishing a katana, "I'm not Green Arrow."

Conhanan tried to crawl away but the archer brought his katana down on him.

Universe-208, Tatooine

The Death Watch had taken Blade to their base, having taken off his trench coat and armor to see his wound better. They saw some ruined flesh, as if some of it exploded, with some shrapnel visible inside.

"Looks bad", Bo-Katan said.

"His weapons are quite interesting", one of them said, looking at the silver stakes he had. "What do these even do?"

"Or these", Bo-Katan noted, looking at the wire and spray, before picking up his sword. "This looks deadly though."

She felt something moving on the hilt, and dropped it. At that moment, spikes burst out of the hilt.

"Good trap."

One of the group picked up Blade's gun, and aimed at the wall while looking at it.

"A slugthrower, not many carry it around in the galaxy", Bo-Katan said. "And that armor, it won't protect him from a blaster bolt."

"That wound doesn't look like it even came from one", Pre-Vizsla noted. "But where did it come from?"

"I cannot tell", Bo-Katan sighed.

"Could we give him some bacta?" One of them asked.

"No", Vizsla denied that. "We need to use it for ourselves, when we get wounded, not some stranger we find."

"Look", Bo-Katan suddenly said, pointing at something.

In front of them, the shrapnel in Blade's wound was pushed out of his body, and the wound started healing by itself, the skin regrowing and knitting itself back together.

"Keep an eye on him", Vizsla said, before walking out. This was getting interesting.

Chapter 6: Haunted

Chapter Text

Earth-21, Metropolis, Watchtower

"What?" Lois Lane asked, the horror in her voice clear. "They're gone! Where?"

"We don't know, Lois", Chloe said sadly.

"You shouldn't have asked him to look into that", Lois told her.

"We didn't think it would get this bad", Tess confessed.

"Calm down, Lois", Chloe said gently. "We can't lose our heads if we are to bring Clark and Bart back."

Lois took deep breaths, trying to get herself in control. "Yeah, you're right, we need to think this through."

"Maybe I should pay Lex a visit", Oliver snarled.

"While that is very tempting, its not gonna go over well", Tess pointed out. "Lex can just call it harassment."

"We need to find out where they went first, then try to get them back", Emil said the obvious. "Problem is, while we have experience with the Multiverse, we don't have this much experience with it."

"Well, whatever it is, its up to us to figure it out", Chloe sighed. "Clark and Bart are depending on us."

"I just hope they're fine, wherever they are", Lois hoped.

Earth-1, S.T.A.R. Labs, Central City

Jefferson Jackson aka Jax had arrived after what he had been told.

"I'm really glad you decided to come", Barry said.

"I thought S.T.A.R. Labs had to shut down", Jax said while looking around at the place.

"It's under new management", Barry shrugged.

"Whoa", Jax saw the treadmill that Barry used to run. "What kind of treadmill is that?"

"Cosmic", Cisco boasted.

Jax laughed softly. "Cool." He walked to the rest of them. "So, let's get started. You got some kind of "Billion Dollar Man" technology that gonna fix my knee?"

"Actually, Jax, this isn't about fixing your knee", Barry confessed.

"What are you talking about?" Jax was confused.

Stein spoke up from where he was sitting. "When the Particle Accelerator exploded, the energy wave that collided with you is known as "dark matter.""

Caitlin joined the conversation. "And it didn't just hurt your knee. It-it changed the molecular structure of your body."

"Whoa, hold on, Grey. So you're saying I'm like one of those meta-humans I keep hearing about on the news?" Jax asked in shook.

"Yes, I am", Stein shrugged. "Please, call me Professor."

Barry said. "We think you have potential capabilities."

"What kind of capabilities?" Jax asked.

Caitlin revealed. "The same as Professor Stein: the ability for your body to process fission and fusion."

"And you can harness excess energy and turn it into these massive nuclear blasts", Cisco added excitedly. "And you can fly. There's also that."

Jax turned to Stein. "So you're saying you can do all this?"

"Only during times of convergence with a willing partner", Stein said.

"Convergence?" Jax asked. "You and me?"

"Yes."

After a few moments, Jax laughed as he walked off. "No, this is crazy."

"No, Jax, this is your chance to right the wrong that was done to you", Barry said and he stopped.

"Yeah, sorry, you got the wrong guy", Jax told them. "I don't want nothing to do with this."

"Wait a second, we are giving you the chance to be a superhero, and you're gonna say no that quickly?" Caitlin inquired.

"Yeah, not my kind of thing", Jax said immediately.

Stein started. "If the man isn't willing to participate—"

"Look, I saw your test scores, Jax. Your grades were good enough to get into college, but you didn't go. Why?" Caitlin asked, her tone accusatory. "Is this the type of guy you are? One setback and you fold? Well, then maybe you're not the guy for us anyway."

Jax responded angrily. "Well, maybe I'm not."

He walked off.

"Jack—"

"Maybe this just wasn't meant to be", Stein sighed before walking away.

Barry turned to Caitlin. "Cait, come on, I mean, Jax could be our last chance at saving Professor Stein."

"He said no to being a superhero", Caitlin told Barry. "Who does that? I mean, you didn't say no when you had the chance." She turned to Cisco. "Cisco, would you?"

"Chance to have superpowers? Sign me up", Cisco shrugged.

Strider had been silent so far, but now he spoke. "You are thrusting a huge burden upon him without giving him much time to think, everything he has known will change. He needs time to think about this."

Caitlin started. "But he also-"

"And for why he did not go to this place called 'college' in spite of having the means to do so, perhaps something happened with him that took away his chance", Strider pointed out. "Did you think about that before accusing him of cowardice?"

Caitlin tried to speak, but no words came to her mouth.

"You know, he does have a point", Barry agreed. "We don't know everything about his life, there could be other things he is struggling with."

"Oh my God…" Caitlin whispered, ashamed of herself now as she realized she had made a judgment call.

"This isn't you, Cait, what's the matter?" Barry inquired.

"I guess…I thought everyone could be like Ronnie", Caitlin realized. "I wanted Professor Stein's new partner to be just like him, because he was a hero. I guess Jax refusing made me react like that. I shouldn't have done that."

"Hewitt, he does not seem to me like the kind of man who can be trusted with such power", Strider said.

"What do you mean?" Cisco asked.

"Just look at how disappointed he seemed on realizing he cannot be this Firestorm", Strider pointed out. "A wise man humbly accepts his shortcomings. An arrogant man is the one who is filled with rage when such a thing happens."

"He is right, Hewitt's personality, not really something I liked", Barry agreed.

"Thank you, Strider, I think I needed to hear that", Caitlin sighed, knowing she was taking out her issues with Ronnie's death on Jax. She started walking out.

"Where are you going?" Cisco asked.

"To apologize to Jax", Caitlin said, and then she was out.

"Man, I like having you around", Cisco said happily as he pointed at Strider, who chuckled alongside Barry.

"Where is Jay?" Strider then asked.

"He said he'll be thinking on ways to get his speed back", Caitlin told Strider. "We only call him for help when it's a meta-human from his Earth."

"All right", Strider said with a nod, turning around and walking through the hallway. Jay helped only when the meta-human was from his own Earth.

He found that, not quite right. Jay was supposed to be like Barry, wasn't he? So why did he not try to provide any kind of aid when Barry was facing his own Earth's enemies?

Not to mention, that would make Barry stronger too. But against Snart and Michael, he had been no help. Strider was sure even without his powers, he could have some insight.

He himself was completely out of his depth in this world, due to the advanced technology that he was still trying to grasp, yet he did his best to help in any way could.

Why was Jay not doing the same?

Universe-208, Tatooine

Blade's eyes opened as he gasped, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings. He was alert and alarmed, knowing this was not any good.

At that moment, Pre Vizsla walked in, not wearing his helmet.

They locked eyes for a moment, both hardened and cold, neither speaking. But Blade did move, and he stood up, not backing down from the obvious challenge, refusing to appear weak.

Vizsla finally broke the silence. "Who, and what are you?"

Blade ignored the question, his yellow eyes peering through Vizsla. "Where am I?"

Vizla was almost amused. "You're not in the position to ask questions."

"I just did. And I'm waiting on an answer."

"And I'm under no inclination to answer. What truly intrigues me though is what causes a man to fall through a hole in the sky, with no comms, no map, and only a sword and several weapons I've never seen before on his person. Tell me, if you were me, how would you react?" Vizsla asked, a dangerous edge to his voice.

"I'm not you, and I don't rightly give a f*ck what you think", Blade spat back, his voice having the same dangerous edge.

"Strong talk for a man who had a hole in his chest", Vizsla mocked.

Blade grabbed Pre Vizsla by the neck and raised him off the ground, making him gasp at the sudden movement, and the man's strength. "I think I can back them up."

Then he dropped Vizsla. Blade turned and walked back to his cot, to hide the pain in his chest, as he felt the shrapnel move in his body, slowly being pushed out.

Vizsla was angered but intrigued as he continued. "That same hole, where I saw regenerate, by itself, with no bacta."

"What is this, twenty questions?"

"Can't afford to be too careful on this planet."

Blade mouthed to himself, "Planet?" Then he turned back to Vizla. "Where's my gear?"

"As long as you're in my camp, you may not carry a weapon, but that does bring me to another question." Vizsla pulls out from a pouch on his belt, a bullet. Blade recognized it, he made it after all. Vizsla tossed it to the Daywalker, who easily caught it. "I've never seen anyone choose a slug over a blaster."

Blade kept his eyes on Vizsla, but the words he was using, planet, blaster. He didn't understand. The only theories he had, well, they were outrageous even for him.

And he was there during the Battle of New York.

"Every moment I look at you, I only gain more questions."

"Then you should stop looking, or you'll never find answers."

Vizsla peered at him hard, tilting his head, looking him up and down. Hard muscles, the way he moved, spoke, he was a warrior, Mandalorians could recognize one a mile away. With this in mind, and what else he'd seen of this stranger, it led to a question that would determine this man's fate in Vizsla's camp. "Are you a Jedi hunter?"

No word passed his lips, and no expressions was made on his stoic face, but Blade definitely knew, something was wrong. Jedi? Maybe his theories weren't so wild.

"I'm a hunter."

It was an answer yet a non-answer, all the same, the leader of the Mandalorians nodded. Now he at least understood this enigma better. "My name is Pre Vizsla." His tone was now less harsh and accusing than it was before.

Blade noticed the change, and for once, he decided he needed to play nice. "Blade."

The name made Vizsla smirk. "Until your wounds heal, you may stay in my camp. However, I would warn you about wandering too far, Tatooine isn't friendly to the vulnerable, the Tusken Raiders would see to that."

Without another word, the armored Mandalorian left the tent, allowing the Daywalker to see what looked like a jetpack on his back. After several moments, to make sure Vizsla was really gone, Blade groaned, falling back on his cot and clutching the bandages on his chest, blood staining the white fabric as his inherited healing pushed more shrapnel out his body and cut through the bandages.

It was not the pain that made Blade's eyes widen. It was what he saw through the flaps of the tent when Vizsla left.

Two suns in the sky.

Planet. Blaster. Jedi. Tatooine. Tusken Raider. He understood none of it. But now? Did those Vampires send him to another planet?

"Motherf*cker."

Earth-1, Star City

Team Arrow were now in their new base, that being Sebastian Blood's former lair. Oliver had also told his team he planned to run for Mayor, to their shock.

"Now, our new masked friend", Oliver started. "Waller is after him."

"You mean the guy who beat all our asses?" Laurel inquired, still salty about that.

"He was trying to make a point", Oliver shrugged. "And he was right."

"Oliver, we don't know much about him", Diggle started.

"He knows who I am and he hasn't done anything about it yet", Oliver pointed out. "Not to mention, he figured it out on his own. Any help I give him won't make him anymore dangerous than he already is by knowing this."

Laurel started. "But Ollie-"

"You are mad because he took you down", Oliver simply told her. "You're not Sara, Laurel. You can't be her just by wearing that mask."

Laurel now looked angry. "That was uncalled for, Ollie."

"It wasn't, if lack of training is going to get you killed out there", Oliver pointed out, and Laurel had no response to that. "Anyways, he is from another world. The Singularity in Central City opened up pathways between our worlds and others. He fell through one of them."

"Wait what?" Thea asked in shock. "Other worlds?"

"And this started in Central City", Diggle groaned. "My life was somewhat normal before I met Flash."

"We need to protect him from Waller, and make sure he finds a way back, which Team Flash could help with", Oliver said.

"So we got Darhk, Takeo and now this", Felicity sighed. "You really love attracting danger."

"I'm sorry, what?" Oliver looked at her incredulously. "Are you blaming me for all this?"

Felicity realized what she'd just said. "Oh no, Oliver I am-"

"Bad things happen, Felicity. I am here to stop them from happening to more people", Oliver told her, when the computer beeped, and she started reading what was there.

Earth-199999

Parker and Hardison sat across from Nate and Sophie, the latter two both looking utterly shocked.

"Another world? Really?" Nate asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah, that's where Eliot fell, into a different world", Hardison confirmed. "I tracked his phone down to where it was last before he disappeared."

"You intend to rescue him", Sophie noted. "We'll bring him back."

"We?" Parker asked, confused.

"You really think we won't go when one of ours is missing?" Nate asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't think you should come", Hardison replied. "You two are retired, and-"

"He'd do the same for us", Sophie pointed out.

"Because he is capable of doing it", Parker countered with her own point. "It's a new world, who knows what we'll find?"

"And like I said, you two stay here, Eliot would get angry that you two put yourselves in danger for him", Hardison told them.

Nate and Sophie realized the two had a point. Eliot was the hitter, he was the protector. The two of them retired, if they came back in the game just to rescue him, he wasn't going to like that.

"I asked him to keep you all safe", Sophie remembered what she'd said to Eliot the day she and Nate had finally left the team. "But now, bring him back safely, please."

"And we're all going to get together the moment he comes back", Nate added in a tone that left no room for argument.

"That we'll do", Parker quipped.

"And you be safe too", Sophie added.

"That agent is a goddamn daredevil. With him around, I don't think anything is gonna happen to us", Hardison assured both. "Don't tell Eliot I said that."

All of them chuckled, before Nate hugged both Parker and Hardison tightly, and they hugged him back. "Good luck, and bring him back to us."

They nodded before parting, before sharing a hug with Sophie. "Good luck. I look forward to the get together."

As they parted, Hardison said. "We'll all be back together."

With that, Parker and Hardison walked out, waving to Nate and Sophie, who waved back, holding each other's hands as they shared a look, hoping Eliot would be brought back.

Later, Earth-1, Star City

Oliver walked into the warehouse, and looked around, not finding Eliot. At that moment, Eliot leapt behind him from above, and grabbed him in a chokehold.

Oliver tried to free himself but Eliot let him go. "Don't drop your guard."

"That is right", Oliver agreed, turning around.

"First time seeing you in normal clothes", Eliot quipped as both chuckled. "Any reason you came to see me?"

"I know you're from another world", Oliver revealed.

"Right", Eliot muttered.

"And well, the one who sent those ARGUS Agents after you, she wants to recruit you to be part of a Squad of dangerous people with useful skills she has", Oliver continued to tell him. "Your consent won't be something she'd require. She is a dangerous woman, and one of the many who made me what I became. And she threatened an innocent family to get me to work for her."

"Damn! Sounds like a piece of work all right", Eliot had to say. "And I've seen plenty bad."

"I continue to see you were right. I'm working on your advice, but I couldn't defeat some corrupt cops today", Oliver commented, shocking Eliot.

"Did you die on that vacation or do you enjoy being a joke?" Eliot had to ask now. "How are you going to protect this city if you can barely protect yourself from some punk kid and a cop?"

"There was another man there with us, I guess I held back because I wanted him to see I'm trying to be better", Oliver said, sitting down. "But now I've realized, I need something between my old approach and my new one. And what you'd told me, it is convincing me that's the only way. So thank you."

"No problem", Eliot shrugged. "So, you gonna help me when this woman's thugs come after me again?"

"I've as much beef with her as you do", Oliver pointed out. "If she makes a move, well, this is my city, she won't get away with it."

Eliot chuckled. "I have two friends. If she goes after me, and they come here looking for me, well…I almost pity her."

"I wouldn't want to be her when that happens", Oliver noted, when his cell phone rang, and he picked it up. "Hello…..slow down…okay, I'm coming."

He cut the call, turning to Eliot. "Those cops, they took someone. Are you coming?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Eliot shrugged as he put his mask on.

Earth-199999

"Really Ethan? You're gonna go to another world and not take us with you?" Luther asked his friend, not looking pleased about it.

"The Syndicate is not going to stop its operations while I'm not around", Hunt pointed out to him. "You two need to stay here and continue go after them."

"How exactly?" Benji wondered. "They have not been very forthcoming, in case you haven't noticed."

"I know, but we will get them", Hunt assured the two, before holding out his hand. "Anyways, I need to go."

Luther shook his hand firmly. "You come back from there in one piece, or I'm gonna beat your ass."

Hunt chuckled. "I don't doubt that." Next, he shook hands with Benji too. "See ya, Benji."

"I really want to know what its like there", Benji said, sounding very excitable, to Hunt's amusem*nt.

"I'll make sure to let you know", Hunt assured him.

Earth-1, Star City

Liza Warner's team were loading up their van, when one of them turned to see Laurel as Black Canary standing there.

The guy aimed his weapon, but now Laurel's sonic device had been upgraded, and nothing happened. She let out a cry, sending the corrupt SWAT flying back into the van.

"New frequency, same cry."

Thea leapt down behind another one, striking his face with her bow. The other one aimed his gun and fired, but Thea flipped away, the net trapping the SWAT guy instead.

"Let's get out of here!" Warner said, making to leave, when an arrow struck a SWAT guy, taking him down. Liza looked up to see Oliver nocking another arrow. "Sergeant Warner, you have failed this city."

And then Eliot kicked her from behind, sending her falling on her face. "What he said."

She got up and turning around, tried to strike him with her wrist blades, but Eliot side-stepped to dodge, then grabbed her wrist before spinning and elbowing her face, dazing her, and then he flipped her to the ground, before kicking her face hard, knocking her out at last.

Oliver fired at Quentin Lance's restraints, freeing him, when an arrow was fired at him, but he deflected it with his bow, looking up to see Takeo Yamashiro there once more.

"You…" Oliver sighed as Takeo leapt down with his katana that Oliver blocked with his bow, then backed to avoid another strike before spinning as he got on Takeo's other side and elbowed his back, throwing him forwards.

"I'm going to kill you for what you did", Takeo snarled as he got back up.

"So you hate him, huh?" Quentin said, making Takeo turn to him now. "And what about you, you never done anything wrong?"

"Shut up!" Takeo roared, trying to fire at him now, but Oliver deflected the arrow with his own instead.

"All of us have done terrible things, but I believe we are not beyond redemption", Quentin continued. "And I got to believe we can still be saved, as can this city."

"Nice speech", Takeo snarled, as he made to charge at Oliver, only to be kicked on the face by Eliot, and it sent him back. Before he could get up, Laurel let out a Canary Cry, and he covered his ears in pain, being sent back again.

He saw Oliver, Eliot, Thea, Diggle and Laurel all standing against him, and knew he couldn't win this. And so, he threw a flashbang grenade to the ground, blinding everyone.

When it cleared, he was gone.

"This is becoming predicable now", Oliver sighed, while Eliot walked off.

"Thanks for the help", Oliver said.

"No problem", Eliot told him, when Oliver tossed him a phone that he caught.

"To stay in touch?"

"Yeah."

"Got it."

Earth-199999

"Well unfortunately, we don't have a way to stop your disintegration. The only way to do that is to send you two back", Banner sighed. "Which is going to be tough."

"I mean, we can try, because you two vibrate at a different frequency from the people of this Earth", Tony revealed.

"Wait, so I guess you're gonna try to make something that tracks our world by frequency?" Bart inquired. "Because that'd be cool."

"Only play we have", Tony pointed out, when Clark and Bart 'wigged' again, Bart groaning in pain while Clark resisted.

"I think we need to do it fast", Clark said urgently. "Bart, I think we should help them make this thing."

"Yeah, sure", Bart replied, Clark noting the unease in his voice.

"What's the matter?" He inquired.

"What?" Bart asked. "I'm totally fine."

"You've been acting quite off ever since we met today", Clark wasn't buying it. "Is there something going on?"

"Why do you have a radioactive isotope on you?" Banner asked Clark all of a sudden. "It has quite a long life too."

"Yeah, that's the courtesy of Lex, my former friend and now my biggest enemy", Clark said with a sigh.

"I know how that feels", Steve said sadly, thinking about how Bucky was brainwashed into being Hydra's assassin for years.

"I guess you noticed because you are an expert on the matter", Clark said to Banner about the isotope.

"Yeah, biggest expert on the planet here regarding radiation", Tony said with a smirk, Banner simply shaking his head.

"Its there to track me 24/7, so I can't even go home with that on me", Clark groaned.

"Wow, this Lex is like a crazy, obsessed ex", Natasha had to say. "A little less bad though."

"Is there a way to remove it?" Clark inquired.

"Let me think", Banner said, sitting down to do just that.

"Trust me, no one knows radiation like him", Tony assured Clark.

"So, what's your story?" Tony asked the two, making them look up. "Not the sordid details or anything."

"Well, I was born on a planet called Krypton, but it was destroyed. My parents sent me to Earth, where I was raised by my adoptive parents", Clark told them. "Because of what they taught me, and my experiences in my hometown of Smallville, as well as training from an AI based on my birth father, I finally became Superman."

"Must be really good parents and people in the town", Steve commented.

"There was some good, some bad, for years, but all of it made me who I am today", Clark smiled.

They turned to Bart, who pointed at himself. "Me? Just got this speed somehow, but don't remember anything from before that."

"Really? That's weird", Clint commented. "So, a bit of an amnesiac there?"

"You can say that, amigo", Bart sighed. "And what about you lot?"

"I used to be frail and sickly, and wanted to enlist during World War II", Steve revealed, Bart's jaw dropping while Clark look at him in shock. "But then I got selected for a Super Soldier Program by Dr. Abraham Erskine, who made me promise to remain a good man with my strength. The experiment made me this, and after a few years battling Hydra, which was the scientific branch of the Nazis, I was frozen in ice for decades, and came out just a few years ago."

"So, a Super Soldier from World War II", Clark said in awe. "Even with all that I've seen, this is something."

"Thank you", Steve smiled.

"I'm surprised you didn't go first, you love the sound of your voice", Bart said to Tony, whose eyes were wide.

"Well, who wouldn't if they'd my voice?" Tony quipped. "Besides, better than you, you chatter fast."

Some chuckles went around before Tony said. "My company traded my weapons in my name under the table while I was too busy partying to care, until a terrorist organization abducted me to make a missile for them. But with the help of their other captive Yinsen, I made a suit of armor instead. Yinsen sacrificed himself and told me to not waste my life. I escaped that cave, returned home, shut down the weapons division, and then became the fabulous and invincible Iron Man standing before you."

He raised his hands to either side with a smirk as he finished his story.

"I think you're pushing it", Natasha told him, making him turn to her. "I've seen your ass being beaten a few times."

"I'm just a former Agent of SHIELD turned Avenger, and I'm good with a bow and arrows", Clint shrugged.

"I know someone who is really good with those too", Clark said.

"I'd love to meet him", Clint smirked.

"And what is SHIELD?" Bart asked.

"It was a worldwide espionage organization", Clint revealed. "But turns out Hydra is still around and was infiltrating us for decades, growing under our very noses."

"We had to make things public, and at the end, SHIELD had to go down as well for Hydra's plan to fail", Natasha told them. "Now we go after their bases one by one to stop them."

"Damn! Sounds like a mess alright", Bart muttered.

"How did you deal with it?" Clark asked Steve out of curiosity.

"All I could do was face it, and try to do better", Steve said simply.

"As for me, well, a lot of things happened, then I became an Agent of SHIELD, and then an Avenger", Natasha told Clark and Bart, the two noting she did not want to talk about her past much.

Steve looked at her and gave her a nod, which she simply returned.

Clark noted their dynamic was of two people who knew each other well, having worked together and fought side by side for a long time.

Yet, there was something more to it, which both seemed to avoid. Clark knew it, because that's exactly how it had been with himself and Lois.

Though he wasn't going to comment on it.

"Me, I was a physicist with 7 Ph.D.'s. My girlfriend's dad was a general who wanted my help in an experiment that could make humans immune to radiation", Banner explained. "Turns out he was just trying to recreate the Super Soldier Serum that made Cap. It failed and the exposure to it gave me a...green problem, you can say. I was on the run for a few years, got into a huge mess, then I was needed by SHIELD to track something, then the world was threatened and I joined the Avengers, both of us."

"Like amigo said before, you lot are like the Justice League of this world", Bart commented.

"And, 'tourists' have been popping up quite a bit", Tony said.

"Containing them has been hard without SHIELD, but we're doing our best", Clint told them. "Especially since people like Hydra would love to get their hands on some of them."

"Yeah, I know some people like that", Clark said, thinking of Lex, and Checkmate.

"Also, where is Thor?" Natasha asked suddenly.

Steve revealed. "He said he had to go to Norway."

Bart suddenly raised his hand. "Excuse me, sorry for interrupting, but did you just say "Thor"?"

Earth-1, Star City

Oliver sat across from Felicity, as she looked down. "You really think that?"

"Yeah", Oliver told her. "Don't take this the wrong way, but this really is not working out."

Felicity sighed, a few tears in her eyes. "I wish it did."

"I wish that too", Oliver told her. "But it just can't. You're trying to make me something I'm not, and something I can never be."

Felicity wanted to deny it, but knew he was right. "Guess the image of you as a Knight in shining armor, I never got it out of my head."

"I had an image of you too, Felicity", Oliver said. "Seems like we're both disappointed."

"Yeah, we are", Felicity agreed. "But, I hope we can remain friends and teammates."

"Always", Oliver assured her, giving her a hug that she returned.

He'd thought it'd be harder. But he felt relieved now, because this relationship was becoming toxic again, and both were free of its burden.

Earth-199999, New York, Avengers Tower

Tony was working on the 'breach' device for both worlds, with some help from Banner, when the latter suddenly spoke up. "I think I've figured out a way to get rid of the isotope."

"Really? What?" Clark inquired.

"Well", Banner turned to Bart. "The energy you harness when you run, if you can strike Clark with some of its power, it will destroy the isotope."

"So, your powers", Clark realized. "They can do it then."

"Right", Bart muttered. "So, I've to run then?"

"Don't think there was some other way to it", Tony pointed out.

"Is it necessary?" Bart asked now.

"Okay, that's it", Clark finally said. "You're going to tell me why you've been acting weird all day. What's the matter, Bart?"

Bart looked up at Clark with haunted eyes, his entire demeanor nothing like the fun-loving individual Clark knew. "It is after me."

"What?" Steve asked.

"Something, a….a Demon, of…of the Speed Force", Bart confessed while stuttering. "Its always waiting for me….every time I use my superspeed."

"Then why haven't you mentioned it before?" Clark inquired.

"Because it hasn't always been there before", Bart explained. "I always thought my speed had a ceiling…..but when I didn't have any choice but to run fast than I ever had before….when my life was on the line…"

"When Lex tortured you for stealing LuthorCorp secrets", Clark realized, remembering the time he had teamed up with the League against Lex.

"That's when I saw it", Bart spoke. "Right there. Waiting. Watching. This thing…this….I don't know. Speed Demon? Black Racer? Just on the other side of the glass."

He looked at Clark gratefully. "But I couldn't stop moving."

"So when I saved you from the cage…." Clark realized he'd saved Bart from this thing as well.

"Wait, so let me get this straight, this Speed Force has a Demon that's coming after you?" Tony inquired, when suddenly Clark and Bart wigged again, Bart falling to his knees while groaning, as Clark helped him up, resisting the pain.

"And there is this to deal with too", Clark sighed.

"I think we're gonna need Thor", Steve said firmly. "He might know something about this thing, or at least a way to deal with it."

Suddenly, a beeping sound was heard, and JARVIS spoke. "The area around Shawarma Palace is under attack, sir."

"Give me the view", Tony said, a holographic screen appearing, and their eyes widened at what they saw. "Please tell me I'm not the only one seeing this."

"No, you're not", Natasha assured him.

It was a giant creature that looked like a watermelon, lumbering around with its weight, having what looked like a blindfold around the spot where a human would have eyes, and in its hand it had a stick that it used to bash a car until it was nothing but scrap, the people running around in fear.

"What in the…?" Clint trailed off.

"Let's go take on it", Steve said, turning to the team. "Clark, evacuate the civilians nearby. Tony, you hit it from above. Me, Nat and Clint will distract it, then Clark and Hulk can take it out."

"What about me?" Bart asked.

"You just said you're being chased by a Demon every time you run, so I'm not involving you in this", Steve shook his head.

"But I wanna help!" Bart said.

"I'll carry you there, but unless its really urgent, no running", Clark told him in a tone that left no room for argument, and Bart shrugged in a 'fair enough' way.

"Let's go", Steve said, all of them moving out.

Earth-1, Star City

Quentin had just agreed to spy on Damien for Oliver, when he remembered something. "Also, there is a new player in town, he killed a cop a while ago."

"Anything specific you can tell me about him?" Oliver inquired.

"He used a throwing star, ya know, like the ones you see in ninja flicks?" Quentin asked, Oliver nodding. "Know anyone who uses 'em?"

Oliver thought about it. Takeo was the new guy in town, and even dressed like a ninja, but he hadn't seen the guy use a throwing star so far. Plus, he was really only going after Oliver when he was out on missions, what would he get from killing a cop?

"Not really", Oliver confessed. "But I'll look into it for sure."

Same time

Liza Warner was being transported to Iron Heights by an entire police unit. She was cuffed and in the back of a police van.

"You used to be good", the cop next to her noted. "Can't believe you fell this much."

"The city is dying, and you know that", Warner simply sneered.

Outside, the roof of one of the police vans was blown up by something. The van skidded to a stop and the cops inside it walked out.

Warner was confused now. The cop next to her tensed. They suddenly heard screaming and gunshots. Warner looked here and there, seeming distressed.

She then heard a sword slicing people and a woman whimpering.

Outside, a lone figure walked to Warner's van while all the cops lay dead around him.

The cop opened the door and was impaled on a sword the next moment. It was the Throwing Star killer! He dropped the cop's dead body on the ground and looked at Warner, whose eyes were wide in horror and recognition.

"I did what you wanted", she said in fear. "I gave you the arrows used by the Arrow from the lockup! Why are you after me now?"

"You tried to kill Green Arrow by coming into conflict against him", the Throwing Star killer told her.

Next moment, he threw a shuriken which hit Warner in the neck, killing her instantly.

"Only I can kill him."

With that, he turned around and walked off, leaving the bodies of the cops and Warner behind.

Earth-199999, New York City

The watermelon creature bashed another car, before kicking one more away, the people all running around in terror, when Clark appeared, using his speed to get them out of harm's way.

The giant watermelon seemed angry, when a flying blur struck in on the head, before flying into the raised hand of Captain America, revealed to be his shield.

He stared at the creature resolutely, before charging it, and with a leap, bashed it with his shield, but it didn't even budge.

The watermelon raised its big stick, and brought it down upon Cap, only for him to put the shield in the way, a loud 'clang' ringing out from the impact.

An arrow then struck the watermelon and exploded, making it turn towards the source, which was Clint with a raised bow, watching in utter shock. Natasha fired her guns at it, and it still remained unaffected.

"Hey, melon!"

The creature looked up, and Tony fired two powerful repulsor blasts at its face, making it stagger back by a bit now, and then he flew towards it at full speed, punching it with all of his power, but to his horror, it only staggered back a little at best.

Before Tony could recover, the creature bashed him with the stick, and he was sent flying off before crashing to the ground, groaning.

"Multiple contusions detected, boss", JARVIS informed him.

"I detected those too, J", Tony muttered with a pained groan.

"What is this thing?" Clint muttered, having an arrow nocked, but not firing it for obvious reasons.

A roar was heard and then Hulk leapt, punching the creature right in the face, sending it stumbling back by a few steps. The creature tried to bash Hulk with its big stick, but Hulk grabbed its arm, the two of them struggling with each other now, Hulk's teeth gritted.

At that moment, the watermelon suddenly held out its other hand, and a green ball of magic flew out, exploding on Hulk's chest and throwing him away.

Tony staggered up, aiming his palm to fire a repulsor, when the creature threw down two more balls like that. They exploded near Steve, Natasha and Clint, and Tony respectively. Steve raised his shield to protect himself alongside Natasha and Clint but the explosion was still powerful enough to throw them away by a few feet, while Tony was thrown off too.

"We're being trashed by a watermelon? Is this a parody world we ended up in or what?" Tony wondered, when a flying blur struck the watermelon creature hard, making it fly off by a few feet, then roll on the ground.

Clark straightened in the air before landing, staring at it resolutely, before unleashing his Heat Vision, which struck the watermelon creature, beginning to burn it a little while it screeched in pain, kneeling on the ground.

Then, it raised its hand, and Clark was surrounded by a green barrier. He tried to punch it, only to gasp as he felt pain in his hand.

"Magic", he snarled with gritted teeth, before he got the wigging feeling again, and that made him gasp once more.

Hulk rushed at the creature and gave it a punch that made it stagger back once more, before it struck his face with its stick, turning his head the other way, and then it struck his chest with the green magic ball again, hurling him away.

At that moment, a portal opened, and the watermelon rushed into it.

Bart couldn't contain himself any longer and rushed after it at high speed, recovering from the pain of wigging out. "STOP!"

He would have made it, when he heard the dreaded sound.

"BAAAART!"

He saw its terrifying visage in front of his eyes, and stopped, falling to the ground, covering his chest with his arms, shivering in terror, while the watermelon creature disappeared into the portal.

"It…..it almost got me…" Bart was whispering to himself, as the green barrier around Clark disappeared, and he stood back up, sighing, before rushing to Bart, grasping his shoulder.

"Bart", he nudged his friend.

"Please don't let it get me, Clark!" Bart pretty much begged.

Clark turned to see the others had finally gotten back up, Tony muttering. "Can't believe we got our asses beaten by a giant watermelon!"

"It was clearly more powerful than expected", Natasha noted.

"Clark, take Bart back to the Tower, he can't help in this state", Steve said gently. "Then come back to us. We'll have to find the creature again and stop it, before helping Bart."

Earth-1, Star City

Thea had shown Oliver his speech, and he was going through it when she gestured to someone. "Oliver, I'd like to introduce you to your political strategist- Adrian Chase."

Oliver looked up from his speech to see a tall man, about the same height and age as him, dressed in a suit, walking towards him, hand held out.

He shook his hand as Adrian Chase said. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Queen."

"You too, Mr. Chase", Oliver replied pleasantly before they dropped hands.

"It's time for your speech", Adrian then said, folding his arms.

"Right", Oliver nodded. "Thanks for the reminder." He walked towards the podium, thinking to himself that there was something off about Adrian.

Or maybe he was being paranoid.

Eliot watched Oliver's speech from the warehouse where he was at.

"I certainly don't have a traditional background for leadership, but I can tell you this- after five years in hell, I returned home with only one goal. I wanted to save my city. And with your help, I can. With your help, we will restore our home to the shining beacon we know it can be. But how we're going to get there isn't a mystery. We will overcome our challenges with help from our friends, our family, our loved ones.Those we trust, and those we will need to trust again in order to prevail. Because the only way that we are going to return our home to greatness is to do so together. United."

The crowd cheered and applauded, and Eliot realized he was doing the same.

Oliver Queen, he was a good man. And with the right help, he would be the one to save this city.

Central City

Strider sat in the cortex, alone, as the others had retired for the day. Or just not shown up for the day, in the case of Jay Garrick.

Hewitt had gone insane after getting his powers, but Jax had agreed to merge with Stein, and they had taken Hewitt down alongside Barry.

Strider was still wondering why Jay had not provided any aid. The way the man presented himself, and the way he handled things, they just did not seem right to the Ranger.

Not to mention, he had not seen Jay in the lab today, so where was he?

These questions continued to plague his mind.

Barry Allen watched the man take off his hood, and his jaw dropped.

In front of him stood Harrison Wells.

Suddenly, a figure jumped behind Wells, and boxed him on the head, knocking him out.

And now Barry was even more shocked to see Batman standing before him.

"Barry Allen", Batman spoke, shocking Barry more at the fact that Batman knew who he was. "We need to talk."

Chapter 7: Exposed

Chapter Text

Earth-1

A doll lay on a chair, a Good Guy Doll, but it was not a normal Good Guy Doll. This was Chucky the Killer Doll, into whom a serial killer known as Charles Lee Ray had transferred his soul using a voodoo ritual long ago.

Right now, he had split his soul, and this was one of the dolls in which he resided, while his girlfriend Tiffany, in the body of actress Jennifer Tilly in whose house he was, helped him out. The TV was on in front of Chucky, playing the news.

Suddenly, Chucky heard a voice in his head.

"Chucky!"

"Who…who the f*ck said that?" Chucky snarled, looking around.

"You can't see me, Chucky", the voice said, Chucky still shocked. "But I can assure you I am there. Its been a while since you've killed, hasn't it?"

"What is it to you, no-faced dick?" Chucky asked the voice.

"I want you to kill again for me, and I promise you, I can grant you more power than what you have right now, beyond soul splitting, and there will be a lot more to kill if you do this."

"And what if I say no, huh moron?" Chucky asked, when suddenly he felt his doll body slowly melting into nothingness, and screamed in agony. "AAARRGHH! GAAAAH! WHAT THE f*ck IS THIS?"

"I can destroy you and erase every single piece of your soul if I want to. But I won't."

Chucky came back to normal and started gasping. "Because I trust we can talk like reasonable people."

The news suddenly showed some scenes from Star City of the body of a dead Ghost from HIVE, the reporter saying. "It is still unclear what kind of militants these are, but-"

"You know what? You got it!" Chucky said cheerfully, knowing he had to go to Star City now to catch up with his old pal. "I'll kill for ya!"

"That is just what I needed to hear."

"Tiff, we're going to Star City to kill some f*cks and meet an old pal of mine!"

Earth-21, Metropolis, LexCorp

Lex looked up to see Oliver walking towards him. "To what do I owe this pleasure, Mr. Queen?"

"Your machine", Oliver snarled as he sat down near Lex. "We know what you're trying to do."

"I don't know what you're talking about", Lex tried to play dumb.

"You better hope so", Oliver snarled, leaning in closer to him. "Because if we don't get our friends back, I will come for you, consequences be damned!"

"You're welcome to try", Lex boasted, only for Oliver to grab him by the throat and pull his face closer, making him gasp.

"I can kill you right now. Sure, I'll go to prison, but none of that power can save your life in this moment, can it?" Oliver asked, and was pleased to see fear enter Lex's eyes. With that, he pushed Lex back into his chair, the man panting and gasping for air.

Getting up, Oliver walked off. "See ya, Lex."

Earth-1, Central City, STAR Labs

Doctor Harrison Wells of Earth-2 held the autobiography of his Earth-1 doppelganger in his hand, or rather the one Thawne had written while posing as Earth-1 Wells.

"Very strange to be holding your autobiography, especially when you didn't write it and it's not about you", Harry said, closing the book.

"Dr. Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon, Strider, meet Dr. Harrison Wells from Earth-2", Barry made the introductions. Caitlin and Cisco looked weirded out, while Strider just looked at Harry neutrally.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"So let me get this straight", Cisco started. "You're the doppelganger of the man who murdered his mom", he gestured to Barry, "and is responsible for both Ronnie and Eddie's deaths?"

Caitlin pointed out. "Yeah, but he's not even the doppelganger of the Dr. Wells that we knew because that Dr. Wells' body had been taken over by the Reverse Flash, who was really Eobard Thawne and Eddie's distant relative from the future."

"Since there are no scribes here, can we write this in that 'computer'?" Strider asked everyone in the room. "For I did not understand everything about this 'Wells' and 'Thawne'."

"I'm my own man", Harry simply said while looking at Barry. "I had nothing to do with the murder of your mother", he looked to Cisco and Caitlin, "or your friend Ricky."

"His name was Ronnie", Caitlin said.

"Him either."

"Perhaps we will be more willing to listen to what you are saying if you let go of pride", Strider told Harry, who narrowed his eyes at him.

"Are you seriously talking like that?" Harry inquired, before telling the rest. "Now, proof of my identity." He picked up the can Stein had thrown earlier. "This almost hit me when I went through the portal. Your stabilized breach downstairs connects directly to the S.T.A.R. Labs on my Earth."

"Right", Caitlin held the can. "I still want to run some tests on you."

"I'll be genetically indistinguishable from my Earth-1 counterpart. Your tests will reveal nothing", Harry shrugged.

"Great! Still gonna run 'em", Caitlin said.

"Be my guest."

"Why are we even listening to him? How do we know he's not evil like the other guy?" Cisco inquired.

"He saved my life last night", Barry said before turning to him. "The question is why. I'm guessing you didn't travel between dimensions just to meet The Flash."

"That's exactly what I did", Harry told him. "I came here to help you, Barry, to stop your greatest enemy."

"He already did that."

"I'm not talking about Reverse Flash", Harry revealed. "I'm talking about Zoom."

Noticing everyone's expressions, Harry realized. "I see you've already heard of him."

"Yeah, Zoom has been sending meta-humans from your world through the breaches to fight me", Barry told him.

Harry said. "Well, they're the symptoms. Zoom's the plague, one that's infected my world, and now he's coming for yours."

"What do you know about Zoom?" Barry inquired.

"Everything", Harry said. "I created Zoom. I'm responsible for all the Earth-2 meta-humans, a fact I've ignored for far too long, but now I'm doing something about it."

"It is foolish to play with powers you do not understand", Strider noted, making Harry turn to him. "And why do you want to stop him now?"

That moment, Joe stepped in, and seeing Harry, took out his gun.

Only, before he could fire, a projectile in the shape of a bat hit his gun, disarming him of it, while Cisco's and Caitlin's eyes widened.

"Yeah…" Barry trailed off. "There was something else I needed to tell you guys."

"I knew he was here sometime ago", Strider revealed. "I did not say anything so as to not make him aware."

"Not many can sense me, good work", Batman said, walking out of the shadows where he had hidden himself, Harry's eyes widening on seeing him. Strider remembered he'd seen another Man also dressed in a similar armor with the Bat symbol while falling into this world.

"So I guess it was you who knocked me out last night", Harry muttered in realization. "This Earth's Batman."

"Wh….what are you doing here?" Joe asked him in horror.

"Batman is here! Damn!" Cisco said, torn between fear and fanboyism. "We have Batman here!"

"I know all of you", Batman said. "I did my homework before coming here. Caitlin Snow. Cisco Ramon. Joe West. Strider, from a medieval world. Dr. Harrison Wells, also from another world. And with you is a man named Jay Garrick, who is from this Wells' world from what I know."

All of them were shocked at how much Batman knew while he turned to Barry. "And you are Barry Allen. The Flash."

Snarling, he suddenly grabbed Barry by the collar and pinned him to the wall. "This is all your fault!"

"Let him go!" Joe snarled.

"What's my fault, man?" Barry asked, scared of Batman.

"The wormhole! The breaches! Everyone from another Earth! It all began here!" Batman snarled, not letting Barry go.

At that moment, Strider grasped his arm, making him let go. "He made a mistake, but he is trying to make amends."

"The mistake was too big", Batman said, glaring at Strider, who let his arm go, while he turned to Barry. "However, I'm still willing to work with you in stopping these threats from other worlds, including Zoom."

"What is going on here?" Joe wondered while grasping his head. "Dr. Wells! Batman!"

"Joe, let's take a walk", Barry said, grasping Joe by the shoulder as he led his foster father away.

"You're not gonna tell us who you are, right?" Cisco asked Batman.

"No."

"Got it."

Star City

Oliver sat down in front of Adrian Chase, who said. "So, let's talk strategy, shall we? Both for winning and governing. There are some things we need to discuss."

"My lack of experience for one, I'm sure", Oliver said.

"Actually, we can spin that, Oliver", Adrian shrugged. "You mind if I call you Oliver?"

"No, I don't", Oliver assured him.

"Right, then you can call me Adrian", Adrian told him. "So, I'm sure you know how people love to talk about age old scandals to try and kick you out."

"Which I have many of", Oliver noted.

"Yeah, like the Queen's Gambit and Sara Lance", Adrian reminded, Oliver wincing a little. "However, this city, its clearly not in the best condition. It seems to be dying, and you seem like the guy hell-bent on saving it, if that speech of yours is any indication."

"Yes, I do want to save this city in any way I can", Oliver agreed. "And to make sure it has a better tomorrow."

"Someone else in my place would have told you to distance yourself from Laurel", Adrian started. "But I won't. Now, the electorate loves scandals. But your speech has already shown your quality. Now, you and I both know the problems this city is facing, so, when the electorate, and the media, they bring that up, you can talk about the problems, and how much worse its getting, pointing out how you can save it, while showing you want to do it too. This way, those people, all those crows, they'll end up getting shamed by the public, because while they like scandals too, the problems of the city affect them the most, so anyone who can take care of those will be welcome. Not to mention, who doesn't love a good redemption story, huh?"

"…..Wow!" Oliver had to say, very impressed by Adrian. "That is….great. And, considering the state of the electorate and most media, I'm really not averse to this plan."

"You not letting your old scandals affect you now, and your friendship with Laurel, they'll show your strength to the people", Adrian pointed out. "About how united, you have power, and can face anything."

Oliver nodded, while Adrian said. "So, let's get working on some more speeches, and the points to cover-"

Central City, STAR Labs

Strider and Batman were watching Harry work by himself, as he said. "They ask you to watch over me or what?"

"None of them have any trust in you", Strider pointed out. "I am sure you can understand."

"I'm just here to ask you something", Batman said.

"And what's that?" Harry turned to him.

"In what manner does Zoom prefer to kill?" Batman inquired, making both Strider and Harry turn to him.

"Either a neck snap, or phasing a fist through the heart", Harry told him. "Why do you ask?"

"What does 'phasing' mean?" Strider inquired.

"Well, you've seen how fast Barry's body seems to shake when he is running?" Batman asked, Strider nodding. "So, people with powers like him, if they shake part of their body, or their entire body too hard, they can go through people and objects. So, Zoom can shake his fist fast enough to plunge into someone's chest, and then stop shaking it within the chest, and crush the person's heart."

Strider's eyes were wide in horror as the implications sank in. "That is a very powerful and merciless way to slay anyone."

"I know", Batman nodded grimly, before turning to Harry. "Nanobots can attack foreign cells that try to phase into your body."

Harry's eyes lit up. "That is a genius idea."

"Indeed. Start working on it right now", Batman told him.

"Why's that?" Harry asked.

"Because if I'm right about something, we're gonna need them really fast", Batman revealed, looking at Strider. "I shall discuss this more with you as well, since you seem to be trustworthy, and you clearly are intelligent since you can grasp modern technology so quickly in spite of being from a medieval world."

"I did not understand many of the words you used, but what do you wish to speak with me and him about?" Strider inquired.

"You'll know soon enough", Batman said with a smirk as he walked out. "Any materials you need, doctor, let me know, I'll get them here quickly."

Universe-208, Tatooine

Blade felt that he'd recovered enough now, the skin having healed and the shrapnel expelled from his body as well.

So he decided he could move now, though to make things worse, his thirst was beginning. It was light for now, but he knew it was gonna get a lot worse very soon.

He stood up, walking towards where his armor and weapons were, but did not take them. He simply walked out, looking at the people.

Some of them started staring at him, some without helmets, and others wearing them so he couldn't see their expressions, not that it mattered, because he knew what they were thinking.

He was an outsider.

Story of his life.

He continued to walk around, seeing some of the Mandalorians were training, with a few of them firing at some sand in the distance.

Two of them sparred, and he saw as one of them flipped the other over his shoulder. Then he saw two more fight, and one of them grasped the other by the throat, slamming them down.

Blade continued to walk, seeing another spar, where one Mandalorian spun and whacked the other, sending that one rolling away, but that one straightened and aimed something from the top of their wrist, and then flames spewed, but the other one countered with their own flamethrower as well.

Like that, the entire group was training.

"Now again- one, two, three-"

"Straighten this a bit-"

Suddenly, a Mandalorian stepped right in front of Blade, this one not having a helmet, and Blade could see he had blonde hair.

The Mandalorian stared at Blade, who stared back, neither one backing down to each other.

"See something you like?" Blade quipped.

That was when Bo-Katan stepped in. "Back off, Saxon."

"He shouldn't be here", Saxon snarled at her.

""He" is right here", Blade shrugged.

"It was Pre Vizla's decision, if you want to argue, take it up with him", Bo-Katan pointed out.

Saxon glared at her, then Blade, before walking away. Blade turns to Bo-Katan, nodding at the redhead, before continuing to walk, but she caught up to him.

"Gar Saxon is rarely the welcoming sort."

"That stick up his ass doesn't help."

Bo-Katan snorted. "I'll have to use that."

Blade ignored her, even as she walked by his side, instead making to the border of the camp, which was surrounded by a rock formation. He walked the distance to the edge of an outcrop, giving him a high position to gaze across an ocean of sand.

Even with the enhanced eyesight granted to Vampires, and Blade, he could see that miles further, was just more sand.

"Ugly old dust ball, isn't it?"

Blade grunted, but said nothing else. Only staring across the vast, empty world. Was it all just sand? How the hell would he know, he'd never left the damn planet? There was another issue, how the hell was he on another planet?!

"You were the one who found me."

Bo-Katan turned to him. "I did."

"How did I get here?"

"One of our patrols saw a hole tear open in the sky, something fell out, we investigated, and found you."

"That's it?"

"Not satisfied?"

Instead of responding, Blade turned on his heel and walked back to his "quarters". Bo-Katan watched him go, no closer to understanding their guest than they were to answering about the hole in the sky.

Earth-1, Star City

Curtis Holt was driving home from work. While Miss Smoak was nice to him, work was still taxing, especially with the other higher-ups being so horrible to him and Felicity, and today hadn't been the best day for him.

The car being driven next to him suddenly skidded in his direction accidentally, and Curtis yelped, before the driver controlled it.

This was the breaking point for Curtis, and he opened his window, looking at the woman driving the other car. She was middle-aged and pretty, and he felt like he'd seen her somewhere, but he didn't care. There was also a Good Guy Doll lying on the Passengers' seat, he noticed.

"Hey lady! This road is not your own personal one, others drive on it too! Be careful next time!"

With that, he shut his window and drove off.

"What a rude asshole", Chucky snarled, turning to Tiffany. "I think I know who to kill first."

"I was waiting for you to say that", Tiffany smirked at him, as she started following Curtis' car discreetly.

Curtis returned home, sighing as Paul was working late with a patient of his tonight, and switched on the TV, while taking off his shoes and then pouring himself a little glass of beer.

Walking to the fridge, he opened it, taking out some meat as well, before turning back to his glass, only to find it empty now.

"What in the…?" He said in horror while holding it up.

Suddenly, the lights went out and he sighed. "Oh no!"

He walked towards the basem*nt, finding the main power grid, and tried to turn the switches on, looking at a hanging bulb nearby. As he continued to fiddle with the switches, the bulb finally turned on, making him look up at it.

Then he looked towards the grid on which he still had his hand, before looking down to see the Good Guy Doll from that car standing near his feet.

His eyes widened in horror, but before he could do anything else, Chucky opened his mouth, and literally vomited the beer he'd drunk at Curtis' bare feet.

Due to his hand touching the main grid, and the liquid vomit on his bare feet, the grid started shocking his hand, and he shook violently, his entire body spasming from the electric shocks, while Chucky was still vomiting at his feet.

The lights in the house turned off and on due to Curtis' shocking, as Chucky stopped vomiting and looked down at Curtis' feet, before looking up at him, enjoying the man's agonizing death, while Curtis' mouth was stuck in an 'o' position.

One eye of Curtis burst suddenly, and then he became still, stuck to the main grid, dead.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Chucky laughed maniacally.

Takeo Yamashiro stood on a rooftop, looking down at the city, when he sensed something, and turning around, caught a shuriken seconds before it could strike his face.

He looked up to see an archer dressed in a suit eerily similar to Oliver Queen's 'Arrow' suit, carrying a katana, having a full face mask that was creepy, and shurikens on his person.

"Oliver Queen is mine", the suited man declared.

"Not if I kill him first", Takeo snarled before firing an arrow, but the man ran off, hiding in the shadows.

Prometheus theme plays

Takeo moved towards where the archer was hidden, only for a shuriken to hit him from behind as he howled in pain.

He then looked around, wondering where this person was.

Suddenly, he turned, seeing the person rushing at him and throwing a punch that made him stagger back.

As Takeo tried to strike, the masked man blocked, while Takeo tried to hit with his katana but the man grabbed his hand and punched his chest, sending him back.

At that moment, Takeo spun around and grabbing the man's arm, flipped him over his head to the ground, making him groan.

Takeo then raised his katana, and brought it down on the archer, but he rolled away to avoid before throwing another shuriken that Takeo deflected, while the archer flipped up and took out his own katana, trying to slice Takeo, but Takeo side-stepped to avoid and sliced the archer's shoulder, making him grunt while Takeo spun and kicked his face, making him fall down.

Putting his katana back, Takeo grabbed the archer by the collar, pissed at him, and punched his masked face thrice, dazing him, before tossing him away again.

The archer staggered up, only for Takeo to fire an arrow. The archer narrowly avoided being struck, before turning around, only for Takeo to grab him by the throat.

"Only I can kill Oliver", he said, before dragging the archer to the edge of the rooftop, and hurling him away while he screamed.

Takeo looked at himself, noticing there weren't any grievous wounds, then looked back down, only to see the archer was gone now, to his shock.

"Another one enters the game", he noted.

A little girl ran out of her house in the porch to play, only to find a Good Guy Doll lying there, which excited her.

Picking it up, she ran back inside. "Mommy, look what I found outside!"

Chuckly chuckled internally. Alice Pierce was no longer under his control. So now this girl and her parents were gonna die just so he could sate himself.

A man was returning home from work, walking through an alley, when he looked up to see Tiffany standing there, smirking at him.

He immediately recognized her. "Hey, aren't you that actress-"

"Yes, its always good to be recognized", Tiffany told him. Being in this actress' body always made it easier. "I'm so flattered, I'm gonna reward you-"

"What?" The man was sure he'd misheard.

"Come on", Tiffany held out her hand, and the man, while hesitating at first, grasped it.

Then, Tiffany suddenly held out a long knife, and swiftly brought it down on the man's hand, chopping it off while he screamed in agony. "AAAAAAARGHH! AAAAAAAARGGHHH!"

Smirking, Tiffany swung the knife, and the man's throat was sliced, as he choked on his blood before falling down, dead.

"That was a good warm-up", Tiffany commented as she walked off, whistling.

The Throwing Star killer staggered into a rundown apartment, before taking a seat, panting, and took off his hood and mask to reveal the face of Adrian Chase.

"You should not have gone out there", a female voice said behind him, Adrian turning around to see an exotic woman with long, black hair. "You are not skilled enough yet. Or experienced enough."

"I just didn't want him to kill Oliver before I did", Adrian said.

"I know, and I get it, but we need to be careful", Talia al Ghul pointed out, taking out a flask and pouring some of the liquid onto her hand, before rubbing it on Adrian's face.

The wounds Adrian had healed at that moment. This liquid was a diluted version of the Lazarus Pit's waters, which could heal wounds as long as they were not fatal. Not to mention, it couldn't revive anyone from the dead too.

"Now Oliver Queen is dealing with Damien Darhk and Takeo Yamashiro at the same time", Adrian noted as he stood up, looking out of the window. "While I'm getting closer to him. So far he doesn't suspect me, but those two need to be thrown out of the way if we want to succeed."

"I agree, but with your current skillset, its not possible", Talia pointed out. "However, I know something that can help us."

"What's that?" Adrian asked as he turned around.

"ARGUS is working on something", Talia revealed with a smirk. "I just need the right moment to get my hands on it."

Earth-21, Metropolis, Watchtower

Oliver walked back into the base, seeing Emil, Chloe and Tess hard at work on something, while Lois was in the corner with folded arms.

"Paid Lex a visit, but ya know he loves to pretend he is cleaner now than he was as a kid", Oliver told them. "So nothing happened there. But I did drive the fear of me into him."

"Well, at least there's that", Chloe shrugged.

"Emil has an idea they're all working on", Lois said to Oliver. "I'm hoping it works."

"What's the idea?" Oliver inquired.

"The mirror box", Emil revealed, the three moving away as Oliver noticed it now. "I repaired it to bring our Clark back once."

"And now, he is modifying it even more", Lois added.

"The idea is it will locate where Clark is, and take us there, and then all of us can come back together", Tess explained what this was supposed to do.

"Well, if anyone can pull this off, its you lot", Oliver said while gesturing to Emil, Chloe and Tess. "I trust you guys."

"There won't be any unintended side-effects, right?" Lois inquired. "I mean, not to question you people."

"This mirror box has been around for a long while, and my previous modification did not have any unintended side-effects, so we'll be fine", Emil assured Lois.

Earth-1, Central City, STAR Labs

Harry had just told Barry, Cisco, Strider and Batman that he was thinking of capturing Doctor Light.

"You are insane!"

They turned to see Jay walking in. "Okay, we are not luring Zoom anywhere!"

At that moment, Jay noticed Batman, and for a fraction of a second, fear appeared on his face, before he schooled his expression.

Batman knew something was up here.

Caitlin interjected. "Apparently, they know each other, and Jay is not a fan."

"Huh. Well, well, well", Harry snarled as he stared at Jay. "Like everyone else, I assumed Earth-2 Flash was dead, until Batman here said otherwise. Why am I not surprised to find Jay Garrick here, still alive and in hiding a full universe away from Zoom?"

"I'm not in hiding", Jay defended himself. "Zoom nearly killed me and stole my speed before the Singularity pulled me here."

"Is that right?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, that's right", Jay told him.

"Well, whatever the case, in your absence, Zoom has only gotten more powerful, faster", Harry turned to Barry. "Barry, you have to defeat Zoom now while you still can."

"No, this isn't the time to be reckless", Jay vetoed the idea. "We don't even know why Zoom sent Doctor Light here. She's a thief, not a killer."

"Zoom can make people do things out of character. Thief or not, she'll kill you", Harry pointed out.

Barry interjected. "All right, look, hey, we can decide what to do with Light later. First, we have to find her, okay?"

"Whatever we do, it is necessary to make sure this woman who conjures deadly light from within her is captured", Strider looked at Team Flash pointedly, "and put in the authorities' prison."

Barry, Cisco and Caitlin winced, remembering his calling out of them over the pipeline prison, while Harry slurped his drink, walking off.

Batman looked at Jay for a bit, who was looking away, and then he walked after Harry, grasping his shoulder. "How far are we with the nanobots?"

"Just a few hours more", Harry assured him.

"Good, meanwhile, I'm going to get some more things from my place, it'll take a few hours too", Batman said as he walked off. "Make sure to do your part, Wells."

Then, Batman saw Strider standing in a corner and grasped his shoulder, making Strider turn to him. "Make sure Light is taken down, put into a proper prison, and not used as bait. Its not going to work in regards to Zoom."

"While I am in agreement with you, you sound quite sure, why is that?" Strider asked.

"Call it a hunch", Batman said with a nod. "I'll be back in a few hours, then the two of us and Harry will talk."

In his cabin, Andy Barclay was watching the news when something related to Star City popped up. "Recent murders have shaken the city. An entire police detail escorting the arrested Liza Warner was massacred, alongside her. Meanwhile, Palmer Technologies employee Curtis Holt was found dead in his home that he shared with his husband, having been killed by an electric shock. And, this is not the only death that shook the city recently-"

As Andy watched, the reporter added. "A family consisting of a mother, a father and their young daughter were found dead in their homes. The deaths appear to be accidental, but police are saying there can be more to this, as all of them died-"

Andy's eyes widened, before he turned around to see Alice Pierce had been watching from a distance too.

After Alice had been possessed, Andy was the one she'd ended up attacking, but he'd taken her down non-lethally, and then used an exorcism taught to him by a magician trickster friend he'd made named John Constantine to exorcise Chucky from her, saving her life.

But since they still couldn't prove that Nica Pierce was innocent, Andy was keeping Alice with him now.

"Is it him, uncle Andy?" Alice asked him in fear. Because these kinds of deaths of an entire family, they just reminded both of them of Chucky's style.

"If it is", Andy got up, walking to Alice and kneeling down near her, grasping her shoulders gently. "I'll find out, and I will not let him come for you again."

A while later, Andy opened a cabinet to reveal the head of Chucky that he'd been torturing for a while now. Chucky's head was open too, a chain on it, and other parts of his head had clearly been brutalized as well, while there was a gag around his mouth.

Andy got the head out, and placed it on the table, before taking out a cigarette that he lit up and smoked. After that, he removed the gag from Chucky's mouth, and held out the cigarette to him. Chucky inhaled the smoke, then exhaled.

Suddenly, he lunged forwards, trying to bite Andy's hand, but Andy, having expected that, pulled his hand back, smirking. "You wanna play?" He got up. "Let's play."

Andy walked to a cabinet, and opened it to reveal various instruments for torture.

"I'm all that you've got, Andy", Chucky said to him.

"Sometimes, its just fun to hang out with your best friend to the end, isn't it?" Andy snarled bitterly as he took out a flamethrower. "A family of three died in Star City, 'accidentally'. But funnily enough, I was reminded of you. So tell me, what new game are you playing?"

"f*ck you!" Chucky roared at Andy, who simply shrugged and pointing the flamethrower at the Chucky head, activated it.

"AAAAAAAAAARGHHH! AAAAAAAAARGGHHH! AAAAAAAAAARRRGHHH!"

Few hours later

Andy loaded up his gun before keeping it inside, then grabbed his bag, preparing to go, before turning to look at Alice. "I'll be back soon, I promise. In the meantime…"

"I'll keep an eye on the head", Alice assured him.

They heard the sound of a car coming to a stop, and turned to see Kyle walking out of it, wearing her leather hat too.

Andy opened the door, allowing her to come in, before embracing her. "Kyle."

"Hey Andy", she kissed his forehead. "So that good-for-nothing doll is still up to its old tricks?"

"Yeah, the head told me he used a ritual to split his soul. Part of his soul is in another doll body, and is killing people in Star City alongside his girlfriend", Andy confirmed. "I'm gonna get him, and I'll be having some help. But-"

"You want me to take care of Alice, and watch the head alongside her while you're away", Kyle realized, Andy nodding. "Sure thing."

"Thanks Kyle", Andy said, before turning to Alice and embracing her, with her embracing him back. "I'll be back."

"Good luck, uncle Andy", she said, before they parted and he walked out, closing the door.

Star City, HIVE Base

Damien Darhk put some plans he had for the city into his cabinet, before sensing something, and turned around, only to see a Good Guy Doll sitting on the chair in front of him.

"What the…?" He muttered.

"Damien, its me, Charles Lee Ray, remember?" Chucky spoke up. "Call me Chucky. I'm in a doll body!"

"Oh its you!" Damien said, and then laughed. "Looks like you're a master of voodoo now, huh?"

"I know. Been a long ass while, isn't that right buddy?" Chucky asked while laughing, Damien nodding.

"Yes, decades I must say", Damien said, sitting down in front of Chucky. "So, how are things going?"

"Just chilling and killing in this city", Chucky shrugged. "Saw the body of a Ghost on the news, and I just knew that you were gonna be here."

"You guessed right my friend", Damien said. "Now for me-"

Tiffany was waiting for Chucky outside, when a car pulled up, and Tiffany saw a middle-aged woman walk out of it.

The face looked very familiar to her, and the woman seemed to recognize her too. "Aren't you that actr-"

"Yes, I am", Tiffany nodded. "Your face looks very familiar too. Have we met before?"

"I don't think so", the woman confirmed, holding out her hand. "Ruvé Adams."

"You know who I am", Tiffany shrugged as they dropped hands. "So, we've not met before, huh?"

"Well", Ruvé sighed. "I'd a twin sister once- Diane. She and I had a falling out as I didn't approve of her life choices. Maybe she is the one you met. She died though."

"I'm sorry to hear that", Tiffany said in fake sympathy, because she realized she was the one who'd killed Ruvé's twin sister all those years ago. And now she imagined smashing a wine bottle and having the shards kill Ruvé the same way too right now, but decided against it, since Chucky had a friend in this organization.

Inside, Damien and Chucky continued to talk when Chucky asked. "So, this Green Arrow guy giving you trouble or what?"

"Yeah, he is trying to", Damien snarled. "A royal pain in my behind."

"Maybe I could kill him for ya!" Chucky suggested all of a sudden. "The green f*ck dies, your ass is all good again, eh?"

"That'd be much appreciated, old friend", Damien agreed. "If you do succeed, I'll owe you one as well."

"You got it, Damien!"

Star City hospital

"Is Thea okay?" Laurel asked while stepping out of the room as Oliver closed the door.

Stepping in front of her a few steps, Oliver turned around.

"Not only is Thea hospitalized, but she has Merlyn influencing her to kill people", Oliver snarled.

"What are you talking about?" Laurel asked.

"Oh, just another thing that happened on your secret trip to Nanda Parbat", Oliver said upset.

"Hey! I didn't tell you that I took my sister to Nanda Parbat because I knew that you wouldn't approve. Why didn't you tell me you took Thea?" Laurel asked.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Oliver asked, confused.

"It's the hypocrisy that I can't stand! What? It's okay for you to do whatever you have to for your sister, but it's not ok for me to do the same to mine?" Laurel inquired angrily.

"Sara was dead. Thea wasn't", Oliver pointed out.

"Then why didn't you tell me about Thea seven months ago?" Laurel asked then scoffed at Oliver's lack of response "Because you don't see me as an equal."

As Laurel walked past Oliver, he spoke. "Laurel, of course I see you as an equal."

"No, you don't! You never have. You never told me that you were the Arrow", Laurel began angrily whirling around.

"Keep your voice down", Oliver said.

"...becoming the Black Canary, and you never would have told me that there's a way to save my sister. My sister, she's out of her mind right now. Because of something that I did. A decision that I made. Did you ever just stop and think for one second about what I might be going through? I'm sorry about what happened to Thea. I really am. I love your family, I always have. I just wish that sometimes you would give a damn about mine", Laurel replied angrily.

"You weren't the only one I never told about being The Arrow, and that was to keep the people I care about safe. Yes, I didn't want you to become the Black Canary, but that's because Sara already died. I didn't want Quentin to lose another daughter from this life", Oliver told her angrily.

"I don't have to put up with this", Laurel said, with a scoff.

Glaring, Oliver snarled at her. "I'm not done yet. This is something I've put up with long enough- it's always somebody else's fault never yours. Last year you kept Sara's death from Quentin then cruelly fooled him into thinking you were Sara. Or you being an addict was somebody else's fault, never your own."

"Enough!" Laurel replied with a sneer.

"I've made mistakes, Laurel, only I accept responsibility for my mistakes. You brought Sara back from the dead, because of your own selfishness. Now people are being hurt or killed because of it. Don't try to use my sister as an excuse for your actions! What I don't get is apparently it's fine for the team or you to keep secrets, but if I do it's the end of the world", Oliver said angrily.

Laurel just stood there in shock and guilt, realizing he was right, while he said. "I've tried to be a team player, but all of you do the same things you judge me for doing. At this point, we need a serious talk, all of us."

Central City

Dr. Light had busted into a vault to steal the money, when there was a blur, and Barry stood there in his suit next to the cash. "Looking for this?"

As she watched, he said. "I know Zoom sent you here to kill me. Good news, you don't have to do that."

"Not if I can get out of town with that cash", Light shrugged.

"And then what?" Barry asked. "Zoom's not gonna like that you ditched him, right? My friends and I can help you."

"Nobody can protect me from Zoom!" She said, starting to glow, as Barry had to cover his eyes.

"All right, why don't we take it down a lumen, have a normal conversation, all right?" She lowered the light's intensity, until it was gone. "Thank you."

Then Light took off her helmet, and Barry's eyes widened in shock as he saw her face, a very familiar one.

"Linda? Linda Park?"

"How do you know my name?" Linda Park of Earth-2 aka Dr. Light asked in shock.

"I don't understand."

"This was a mistake", she said, beginning to glow again, when Strider suddenly leapt into the room and struck her face, knocking her out, the glow disappearing.

"You hesitated", Strider noted, turning to Barry. "Did you know her?"

"She is…..Linda", Barry said in shock.

"Who is Linda?" Strider inquired.

"A woman I used to….court", Barry said, realizing Strider would be more familiar with that word, and he nodded, as understanding washed over him.

"So this is-"

"This is her Earth-2 doppelganger", Barry realized. "Zoom knows about Linda and I. Maybe he also knows about Patty-"

"My friend", Strider put a hand on his shoulder. "Just because an enemy of yours is watching you does not mean you should stop trying to do things that make you happy. Thawne was stopped, was he not?"

"Yeah, he was", Barry nodded.

"So we must hope that Zoom can be stopped too, as well as others", Strider said, his voice turning a little grim as he thought of Sauron. "You seem to care about Patty quite a lot already. If you want to court her, my suggestion is you should."

"You really think that?" Barry asked.

"I do", Strider told him. "As for Zoom, I am not in agreement with Harry's strategy of using this woman as bait. My suggestion is to send her to prison, the one run by the authorities."

"I think you're right", Barry agreed. "Of course, a lot of people are gonna be confused over Linda's lookalike."

John Constantine stood in front of a pizza place, having heard of what was going on in this little town, and it turned out the rumors were true, due to what he was seeing.

A clown behaving like a mime walked out of the pizzeria, Constantine's eyes narrowing. This was Art the Clown, and tonight was his last night in this bloody world!

"Hey, clown!" Constantine called out, causing Art to turn to him. "That mime gimmick you've going for you, that's the scariest you could do? Really disappointing I must say, you are quite pathetic."

Art's expression contorted into one of anger, only for Constantine to turn around and walk towards an alley, whistling.

Art walked quickly after him, deciding he needed to be taught a lesson, a fatal one. He reached the alley, and saw that Constantine was continuing to walk away, his hands in his pockets now while he whistled.

Art the Clown walked after him, only to suddenly find he could not move at all. He tried his hardest, but he couldn't even budge now.

That was when Constantine turned around with a smirk, and to Art's shock, his eyes glowed while he raised his hands and chanted in Latin. "Hoc solum celatum tolle, et huic scurrae captionem ostende!"

The ground under Art glowed, and then a mark was revealed.

"This was to trap you, mate. And I concealed it with another spell, then made you follow me until here", Constantine smirked. "Anyways, your time here is at an end. Any last words?"

Art actually looked horrified, and started shaking his head violently.

"I'll take that as a 'no", Constantine shrugged, and then his eyes glowed as he chanted once more."Aperi humum sub scurra, eumque in Tartara mitte, ubi flammis obruet!"

As he chanted, the ground under Art opened up, flames spouting from it, and then hands came out, grabbing Art's legs, burning his clothes bit by bit, while dragging him down.

The horrified Art tried to crawl back up, looking at Constantine with wide eyes that begged for mercy of all things, but Constantine wasn't moved, considering what Art had done, and what he would do.

Soon enough, the hands dragged him into Hell completely, and the portal closed, leaving nothing but small bits of Art's clown costume behind.

"And that'd be a day's work", Constantine muttered before lighting up a cigarette, inhaling, and then exhaling. After that, he threw the cigarette on what was left of Art's clothes, burning them with it, and crushed all of it underneath his shoe.

Then his cell phone rang and seeing the caller, he picked up. "Oliver."

"John", Oliver said from the other end.

"It's been a dog's age, mate", Constantine quipped.

"More than", Oliver said, "Do you remember that favor you owe me?"

"I hardly expect you to let me forget about that", Constantine joked

"How quickly can you get to Star City?" Oliver finally asked, "I need your help."

Central City, STAR Labs

Batman walked to where Harry was working alongside Strider, having a little container on him, as Harry asked him. "What is that?"

"This thing shall spread nanobots in the air", Batman revealed. "How far are you anyways?"

"Half an hour more", Harry confessed, Batman nodding while Harry asked. "How did you get this container here so fast though?"

"I had a ride back to my place. Now, I shall tell the two of you what I've been thinking this whole time, and figured it out too", Batman revealed. "Its about Zoom."

And then he told them what he was thinking.

Universe-208, Tatooine

Blade had decided to get out of the camp to have another walk, and he saw the Death Watch training still, while some of them were speaking to each other as well.

Like before, some wore helmets, and some did not.

He felt better now, and the thirst hadn't gotten stronger, for the time being that is.

As he looked around, he suddenly saw something that irritated him though. One of the Mandalorians, who happened to have a mohawk, was wearing his shades.

Growling, he walked up to that one, and took the shades off. "What the f*ck do you think you're doing?"

"How dare you speak to me that way?" The Mandalorian snarled angrily, shoving Blade back.

"You took these, so I can speak to you any way I want", Blade snarled, and then shoved the Mandalorian back as well.

The Mandalorian snarled. "I'm going to-"

"Halt!"

He stopped, as Pre Vizsla arrived, standing between the two of them. "What is going on here?"

"He took something of mine", Blade gestured to the Mandalorian before lifting up his shades.

"You know", Vizsla started, gently taking the shades from Blade. "If you want these back, you have to agree to our rules."

"And what kind of f*cking rules would those be?" Blade inquired.

"A duel."

Blade narrowed his eyes, then looked at the Mandalorian, who gave him a smirk. "Against him?"

"Yes."

Blade tilted his neck, then cracked his knuckles. "All right, I'll f*ck him up and take them back."

Earth-1, Star City

Oliver watched as Quentin hugged both Laurel and Sara, who'd now been restored properly by Constantine at last.

"Thank you for your help, John", Oliver told him gratefully, watching as Thea walked to Sara, breaking down, but Sara embraced her reassuringly.

"It was easier than I thought, mate", Constantine had to say.

"That was easy?" Oliver asked in shock.

"Mate, I could have made Deathstroke and his army twerk their way to jail. You and I live in different worlds, but it's better it stays that way, for all our sakes."

"I can't really argue with that, your world from what I've seen is...terrifying."

"Want to say it gets easier, but, you only just get used to it", Constantine shrugged before taking a cigarette between his lips while looking over at the newly brought back Sara talking to the younger Queen. "Got to say, a soulless little romp around the city wasn't as bad as I expected for someone brought back by the League's voodoo."

Oliver looked back at them, before his eyes landed on Thea. "What if...there are other side effects?"

The distinct click of a lighter was heard, but the cigarette remained unlit. Constantine staring intently at the archer. "What you saying, mate?"

"Thea...was also brought back by the Lazarus Pit." Constantine groaned, putting the lighter away as Oliver continued. "And she's been having these episodes of bloodlust, she can't control herself-"

"And you were waiting until the bloody Judgement Day before you tell me?" Shoving the cigarette on his ear, Constantine shifted his relaxed stance to stand straight with a look that took Oliver aback.

"It didn't happen at first, now it's becoming more frequent."

"Of course it is! Resurrection is risky enough, but if you don't do it right, you risk bringing them back as something worse. Aye, your sister's alive, but that "bloodlust" means that she's changing into something you won't recognize until it consumes her. I've seen it before, too many times for my liking."

Even the best intentions led to the worst things imaginable, as Pastor Zachery had learnt when he used a Fallen Angel's feather to perform healing miracles, before Constantine had to save his life and everyone else's from what spawned from the "healing".

"I realize that now."

"Dark things are rising, Oliver, faster now than ever before, your sister will be a part of that. Now though, Sara is at risk too, whatever is happening to Thea will get worse. You should have told me."

"I'm telling you now."

"Good. Now, let me go to work."

A while later, both Sara and Thea had been put to sleep by Constantine, lavender candles surrounding them while they lay on the ground, Constantine between them, and a circle of Enochian runes surrounding them.

"What's he trying to do now?" Quentin wondered.

"Take away their bloodlust problem", Oliver said, watching as Constantine lay his hands on the foreheads of both Sara and Thea.

Suddenly, his head reared back, his eyes rolling into the back of his head while he chanted in a language none of them could understand.

The veins on Constantine's hands turned black, and everything seemed to shake, before it all stopped, Constantine panting as he returned to normal, while Sara and Thea woke up with gasps.

"Did you do it?" Sara asked, turning to Constantine.

"No more bloodlust within either of you", Constantine confirmed, everyone sighing in relief as Constantine staggered towards Oliver, slipping him a piece of paper. "What's this?"

"My bill." The look on Oliver's face was almost comical. "The first one was for free." With a wink and a smirk, Constantine walked off, leaving Oliver to slowly unveil the "bill".

Suddenly, Constantine's phone rang, and seeing the caller's name, he accepted the call. "Been a while, Barclay, why do you call?"

"How quickly can you get to Star City, John?"Andy Barclay asked him from the other end.

"Yeah, about that", Constantine said. "I'm already there."

"Well, I found out Chucky split his soul, and he is in Star City right now, killing alongside his girlfriend", Andy revealed. "Wanna help me out?"

"Against that murderous little git, definitely mate", Constantine said. "And we'll have some help too. I'll call you back in a bit."

He cut the call, then took the bill from Oliver, burning it in his hands. "Ya know what? Never mind, there's something else you can do for me."

"What's that?" Oliver inquired.

"Ever heard of Chucky the Killer Doll?" Constantine asked, all of Team Arrow looking at him in shock.

"You mean that Good Guy Doll whose owner, that kid, claimed it was possessed by the spirit of the serial killer Charles Lee Ray?" Quentin asked, just to confirm.

"Yes, that one", Constantine nodded.

"What about it?" Laurel asked.

"For one, the kid was right, Charles Lee Ray did possess the doll", Constantine revealed, shocking all of them. "Second, I know that kid. He just called me, says Chucky and his girlfriend are in Star City, killing people."

"The murders on the news…." Oliver realized. "These have to be Chucky then."

"Got that right, mate", Constantine told him. "Anyways, you can help us out in dealing with him and his girlfriend then, eh mate?"

"I will, yes", Oliver said, before turning to his team. "I want all of you to stay here, and keep me updated if you find out anything."

"Will do, Oliver", Diggle assured him.

"Now", Oliver said, walking off. "There's one more person who is gonna join us."

In the safehouse, Eliot was doing push-ups, when the phone Oliver had given him rang, and getting up, he accepted the call. "What's the matter, Oliver?"

"A serial killer in the body of a doll, and his girlfriend, are on a murder spree in this city."

"…..Are you serious?" Even with the knowledge that Gods and aliens were real, a serial killer possessing a doll just sounded really…weird.

"I am serious, Eliot."

"Right", Eliot sighed. "All right, I'll help you in dealing with it."

Earth-199999

The watermelon creature was on a beach now, destroying stuff and making the people run around in fear.

Captain America's shield hit its head once more, getting its attention as it turned to look at him.

"Come on everyone", Natasha was gesturing to the exits. "Get out of here."

"And evacuate orderly, we have it handle, don't panic", Clint assured them, as the people did what they were told.

Considering this watermelon creature had them totally outclassed, the two figured it was best to evacuate the civilians while the others tried to beat it.

Steve rushed at the creature and leaping into the air, bashed its face with his shield, though it didn't even budge while Steve landed, looking up at it.

The creature once more brought its stick down on him, Steve using his shield to defend himself, a 'clang' ringing out.

Tony fired at the creature from behind, making it turn to him. "Yeah, that's right. Come on now, melon. Do what you should do and be eaten."

It swung its stick at him, Tony barely avoiding by flying higher, but it hurled the green projectile that struck Tony and sent him flying off. "I didn't mean that!"

He fell down with a groan as the creature turned to Steve, only for Hulk to leap down and punch it on the face, making it stagger back.

The creature tried to strike him, but Hulk grabbed its stick once more, this time not letting go, getting stronger due to his anger.

The two were in a stalemate for now, when suddenly the creature was lifted up from below, to its shock.

Clark had come, and he had lifted it up now. Twirling it in his hands, Clark threw it down, causing a huge shockwave, while the creature groaned in pain.

Clark tried to fly towards it, when suddenly he glitched, and this time, the pain was too much as he grunted and fell down, causing another shockwave from his crash as well.

Taking the opportunity, the creature aimed at him, and he was covered in that green barrier once more, which started weakening him.

"Why is this happening again?" Tony groaned while getting up, as the creature made to strike at him, only for the skies to darken, as lightning hit it from above, making it screech in pain and spasm, before falling down.

A tall man landed on the ground. He had long blonde hair, and a beard of the same shade, his entire body covered by armor, a red cape flowing behind him.

In his hand, he had a hammer, which looked like a mallet due to the size.

"About time, Point Break", Tony sighed in relief as the man got up with a smirk, then turned around to see the creature getting back up.

"Good to have you back with us, Thor", Steve said happily, before pointing to the trapped Clark. "Can you free him?"

"I think I can", Thor nodded, as he made his way to Clark, while the watermelon creature opened a portal once more and started rushing to it.

"Someone stop that thing!" Tony cried out.

Thor raised Mjolnir as it glowed with lightning, and hit the barrier, causing it to break a little. Raising Mjolnir, Thor brought it down once more, breaking the barrier some more.

Right before the creature could get close to the portal, Hulk leapt in his way. "HULK IS STRONGEST THERE IS!"

And then he did a thunderclap, which struck the creature and sent it rolling away.

Thor roared and hit the barrier one last time, finally shattering it, before giving Clark a hand that he took and stood up, groaning. "Thanks for the help."

"It is nothing to thank me for, fellow hero", Thor assured him, as they saw the creature get back up. "We have to take him down."

"I've an idea", Clark revealed, making Thor turn to him.

"I'm listening."

The creature was snarling at Hulk, about to fight him again, while Steve stood next to him, and Tony hovered above them.

Then Clark and Thor flew high into the air, and Clark grasped Thor by the feet, twirling him around. At the end, he threw Thor at the creature, the God of Thunder having Mjolnir held out, lightning coming off of it.

"HAVE AT THEE!"

Before the creature could do anything, Thor hit it with Mjolnir at full force, with both his and Clark's strength combined.

The creature was sent flying back as it screeched, and then fell to the ground, knocked out at last.

In front of their eyes, it shrank to normal size, shocking them even more.

"That I did not see coming", Tony quipped.

"Never thought a watermelon would give us trouble", Steve noted as Clark flew down, before glitching again, causing him to groan in pain.

"Easy", Steve tried to support him, as Thor turned to them.

"What is happening to him?" He inquired.

"We'll explain in a bit", Tony told him.

"I'm gonna call Hill. She and Fury will know where to keep this thing to keep it from hurting others, or itself", Natasha said as she walked off to do just that.

"You came at the right time though", Steve told Thor. "We needed your help."

"With what?" Thor asked, while Clark stared at him. He'd never thought he'd meet a proper God in the flesh one day.

But here stood Thor, the Norse God of Thunder, living up to the legend.

"Boss, there is a strange manner of storm brewing in the city."

"What kind, J?" Tony inquired.

"It seems to be from the same energy source that is giving Mr. Allen his speed."

"Is that what you need help with?" Thor inquired.

"Yeah….." Tony muttered. "That'd be it."

Earth-1, Central City, STAR Labs

Jay Garrick walked into the cortex, only to find it empty.

"Going somewhere?"

He turned around to see Batman standing there, and muttered. "Oh! You! You almost scared me!"

"Is that right?" Batman asked, taking a step closer to him.

"What's the matter?" Jay inquired.

"Nothing, I just find it strange you got scared by looking at me earlier", Batman shrugged.

"Oh! There's a you on my Earth too. I was shocked is all", Jay told him.

"That wasn't shock. That was fear. If you were who you claimed to be, you wouldn't have been scared of me", Batman told Jay.

"What are you on about?" Jay seemed confused now.

"This!" Batman suddenly decked Jay on the face, sending him falling to the ground while he gasped in pain, holding his cheek.

"What the hell, man?" He said, only for Batman to grab him by the back of the collar and lift him back up.

"Stop acting!" Batman snarled, and then punched his gut thrice, winding him, then pushed him away.

That was when Barry, Cisco and Caitlin arrived, horrified at what they were witnessing.

"STOP!" Caitlin cried out, all three about to run, only for Strider to appear, holding them back.

"Wait!" He counselled all three.

"What is he doing?" Barry asked.

"You will see", Strider assured them.

"Show them all!" Batman roared, kicking Jay on the face and sending him flying over the table and computers, falling onto the other side as he groaned in pain.

"Show us what?" Cisco asked, confused.

"This", Harry said as he appeared, pressing a button, and a holographic recording of STAR Labs appeared. They saw Jay in the cortex, walking to the edge of the camera, and then he seemed to just disappear.

"This is…" Cisco trailed off. "This is in here!"

"Your security is not the best, so I hacked through and saw a lot of things", Batman revealed to their shock, while picking Jay up again. "The footage was changed, but I got the original one back."

"You were spying on us?" Barry asked in shock.

"For that, all of you have my apologies, but I had to do all my homework before I barged in", Batman revealed, then punched Jay again, making him spit out blood. "Show us how you could disappear from the camera!"

"Please stop", Caitlin begged him again. "I am sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this-"

"There is, and you're going to see", Batman snarled.

"Do not go into the room", Strider said to Barry, Cisco and Caitlin.

Batman threw Jay down, and then lifted his foot, about to smash Jay's kneecap while whispering so that only he could hear. "Time for the rest to know who you are- Hunter!"

That was it for 'Jay'! His eyes glowed with blue lightning, as did his body, and then he sped out of the way before ramming into Batman, sending him flying off and crashing into a corner.

"No!" Caitlin let out in utter horror, as Barry and Cisco had the same reaction.

"You are-" Barry started.

"Zoom", 'Jay Garrick' snarled in a guttural tone, his modulated voice sending shivers down their spines, while he spun like a tornado in one place, and then when he stopped, his suit having appeared. It was black and grey in color scheme, with a reverse Flash lightning symbol on the chest. He had a full-face mask, the face resembling a Demon-like figure, while he had what looked like Demonic claws as well on his fingers. Blue lightning came off of his body too.

"We meet at last, Flash", Zoom roared, then made to rush out at them, not noticing two pucks at the entrance. As soon as he reached there, a laser was activated, striking him as he snarled in pain, before making a barrier around his body that trapped him, while he gasped, falling to the floor.

Zoom tried to vibrate, but find out he couldn't. "How?"

"The air in the room is filled with anaesthetic gas which you are inhaling", Harry revealed. "While me, Batman and Strider are injected with the cure." Harry then aimed a large gun at Zoom. "Where is Jesse?"

"Who is Jesse?" Cisco asked, while Zoom snarled.

"All right", Harry shrugged, and activated the gun, a beam hitting Zoom as he roared in pain. "Tell me!"

"Ascension Cliffs! Abandoned railway station!" Zoom revealed, and Harry stopped firing.

Then, with a roar of madness, Zoom suddenly started getting up, resisting the laser against him while snarling. "You can't lock up the darkness!"

Strider walked towards him cautiously, taking out his sword, about to chop off Zoom's leg, when Zoom vibrated his arm really fast, and held it out, a huge bolt of lightning flying forth.

Strider threw himself down to avoid being struck while Barry moved Cisco, Caitlin and Harry out of the way, the lightning destroying the two pucks as they shattered, while the laser barrier disappeared, Zoom falling forwards.

Slowly, he picked himself back up, shakily getting back to his feet, and then he ran, striking Barry, Cisco and Caitlin, sending them down, before grabbing Harry by the collar and pinning him to the wall. "You will never save your daughter."

He vibrated his hand and plunged it into Harry's chest, only for his hand to be pushed back. "How?"

"Nanobots, which attack any foreign particle trying to speed its way into my system", Harry smirked, as Zoom realized there was not much he could, and so he shoved Harry into Barry, who dodged, while Harry fell into Cisco and Caitlin, while Zoom limped away, before taking off at superspeed, though slower than he ran usually.

Barry ran, getting into his suit, before following after Zoom, the two getting out of STAR Labs. "Zoom!"

Zoom theme plays

Zoom suddenly stopped, and taking out a small syringe gun, injected it into himself, roaring as lightning cracked all around him, before turning to face Barry, both in front of the STAR Labs sign, blue lightning glowing around Zoom.

Barry then started running around STAR Labs in circles.

"Why is he running away?" Harry asked in confusion.

"He is not", Cisco noted regarding Zoom. "He is not scared."

Strider helped Batman up, who panted, while Strider noted. "Barry should not try to hit him with lightning."

"Why's that?" Caitlin asked.

"Zoom taught him how to do that", Strider pointed out, the implications sinking in.

At that moment, Barry had generated his lightning bolt, and slowing down, hurled it at Zoom.

Zoom ran forth, and leaping, caught the lightning bolt with his claws, then he flipped, and hurled it back at Barry.

The lightning bolt struck Barry and sent him flying off, crashing into the STAR Labs sign.

Groaning, Barry got up, noting the lightning bolt symbol on his suit was singed, while he asked. "Why the act? Why run around dressed like the Flash?"

"To give people hope, so that I can take it away from them", Zoom revealed. "And you fell for my act, just like you fell for Dr. Wells' act!"

Barry felt like an idiot, realizing if not for Strider, Batman and now Harry, this would have been a lot worse.

"You will die", Zoom told Barry.

"Only if you can catch me", Barry challenged, and then ran up the STAR Labs building, Zoom running after him, while Batman burst out of the building.

The two eventually ran up the building and reached the air, Barry trying to cancel out Zoom's speed, as he punched him twice, but Zoom grabbed Barry by the throat and as they fell, he brought Barry below him, punching his chest while Barry crashed to the ground, Zoom above him.

At superspeed, Zoom picked Barry up, and starting pounding him brutally, Barry unable to defend himself. Then, Zoom struck Barry on the back hard, as a sickening crack was heard, Batman's eyes widening.

Cisco and Caitlin watched in utter horror, realizing what Zoom had done, as Strider looked down sadly, Harry rubbing his forehead.

Barry fell down, his back broken, while Batman hurled a Batarang at Zoom, only for the speedster to catch it.

"Never forget, that I am the fastest man alive!" Zoom sneered at Batman, then raising the Batarang, stabbed it into Barry's chest, making him gasp in pain.

Ripping the Batarang out, Zoom threw it at Batman's feet. "You're next!"

Then grabbing Barry, he sped away, running through the entire city, until he reached CCPN, bursting through its doors, making all reporters turn to the sight in shock and horror, Iris covering her mouth with a gasp.

One man started recording with his camera while Zoom taunted them. "Look at your hero!" He lifted Barry up with one hand. "This man is no God! He is nothing!"

And then he ran out of the building, reaching the CCPD now, causing all the cops including Joe, Patty, Lloyd and Singh to aim their guns at him.

"The days of the Flash protecting this city are over", Zoom gloated, displaying the broken Barry to them.

"No, hold your fire!" Joe told the rest, as Barry could be hit.

"Put him down!" Patty snarled.

"Let him go!" Lloyd demanded as well.

"Now what will you do without your precious hero?" Zoom taunted, lowering Barry, giving the rest a clear line of sight.

"Shoot that thing, now!" Singh ordered, as all of them stared firing at Zoom. But he moved his hand really fast, catching every single bullet that was fired at him. When they stopped, Zoom revealed all the bullets in his hand, dropping them to the ground, while all of them were stricken with horror.

"Nice try", Zoom said before running off, still holding the brutalized Barry, until they were back at STAR Labs, Zoom holding Barry up in front of his friends.

"Barry!" Caitlin cried out in horror.

"You may know who I am, but you still can't beat me", Zoom boasted, removing Barry's mask to reveal his bloodied face.

"We will stop you", Batman told him.

"Wrong", Zoom sneered, as he lifted Barry up, and stabbed one claw into his abdomen, Caitlin looking like she was going to cry now.

"Goodbye Flash", Zoom told him. "Even with me weakened, you clearly weren't fast enough."

At that moment, an arrow was heard whistling in the air. Zoom tried to dodge it, but this fight, alongside the anaesthetic gas, laser and nanobots had weakened him too, while his drug was wearing off, and it hit the side of his neck, Strider lowering his bow.

"AAAAAARGHHH!" Zoom yelled in agony, ripping the arrow out and throwing it away, only increasing his pain as he also felt his speed drug wear off even more. "YAAAAAARRGGHH!"

And then, hurling Barry away, Zoom sped off through the breach in STAR Labs, back to his Earth.

"No!" Harry muttered in realization as he looked out into the hallway. "NOOOOOOOOO!"

Cisco, Caitlin and Strider rushed to Barry, Caitlin putting her hands on his chest. "Stay with me, Barry, please stay with me."

Strider turned to Harry. "Who is Jesse?"

"She is my daughter!" Harry revealed. "And Zoom has her! Now he'll kill her! Or move her!"

"He won't", Batman assured Harry.

"How can you say that?" Harry inquired.

"If he hasn't killed her yet, he needs her for some reason", Batman pointed out. "Not to mention, everything that happened, it took a lot out of him too, as well as that drug he used when it wore off of him. If we make our move fast, we can save her."

He looked down at Barry. "But Barry…."

"He needs medical attention, fast", Caitlin said, as Batman knelt near him, holding him up alongside Strider, the two carrying him away to a bed.

Star City

A man was returning home from work when he saw a Good Guy Doll lying on the pavement.

"Huh?" He muttered in confusion. "A doll in the middle of a road?"

He lifted the doll up, and it said. "Hi, I'm Chucky. I'm your friend, till the end!"

"Damn, this is good!" The man commented. "Anything else."

"I like to be hugged", the doll said.

"Sure thing buddy", the man joked, actually hugging the doll, as he was liking it.

And then, Chucky lifted up a knife, before stabbing the man in the back, making him gasp as he fell down, dying, letting Chucky go.

A business woman walked out of her car, about to walk to her home, when someone called out to her. "Hey."

She turned to see Tiffany standing there, her eyes widening. "Oh! You're that actr-"

"I am", Tiffany confirmed. "And you are that business woman."

"I am", the business woman nodded.

"Must say, huge fan of your brand", Tiffany told her. "I would love to do an advertisem*nt on it, if its fine by you."

"Really?" The business woman asked and Tiffany nodded. "Because I wouldn't mind that myself."

"No you won't", Tiffany shrugged. "Because you won't have one."

Before the business woman could comprehend Tiffany's words, Tiffany raised her knife, and brought it down on her head, ending her life.

Later

Andy was driving his car, Constantine next to him, as Constantine was chanting something, before his eyes opened.

"What's the matter?" Andy asked him.

"There are bodies nearby", Constantine revealed, causing Andy to stop the car.

"Where?" Andy inquired, as Constantine got out of the car.

"Follow me, mate", he said, walking forth, as Andy got out and walked after him, the two reaching an alley, where they saw the corpses of a man and a woman, both having been dumped here clearly, and not that long ago, since the blood was still fresh.

Constantine dialled a number, and Oliver picked up. "Yes?"

"Found two bodies in the alley two blocks to the left of you both", Constantine revealed. "Come quickly."

He cut the call as Andy said. "This had to be Chucky."

"Most likely is, mate", Constantine sighed.

"But this is so random", Andy had to say. "I only recognized its Chucky due to his style. He usually kills people to get close to me or Nica, or anyone he needs. This randomness…I haven't seen it in him."

"Perhaps there is more to this than meets the eye", Constantine pointed out, when an arrow struck the wall near them, and they looked up to see Oliver and Eliot, suited and masked respectively, slide down from it before jumping down.

"Green Arrow", Andy noted, looking quite impressed. "Never thought I'd meet you in person."

"Likewise", Oliver told him, since he'd researched Andy after what Constantine had told him. What this man had survived as a little child showed his resilience.

"You think your doll friend did this?" Eliot asked, kneeling down near the bodies, turning that of the man.

"I think it would be him, since he is in the city, and that's when the murder rate here skyrockets", Andy pointed out.

"True. Plus Michael Myers made a comeback a while ago and went to Central City. No reason the killer doll can't make a comeback in this city", Oliver shrugged. "Though the police detail wasn't Chucky, that was someone else."

"Who?" Eliot asked.

"A new player in town", Oliver revealed, before he sensed something, as did Eliot.

"What is it, mate?" Constantine asked, but they did not reply.

Suddenly, they whirled around, Chucky leaping at Oliver with a knife in his hand, only for Oliver to whack the doll with his bow, sending him flying the other way.

Chucky hit a dumpster, causing it to fall down too, but got back up immediately.

Child's Play 1 theme plays

"You", Andy snarled at Chucky, taking aim with his gun as Oliver aimed his arrow. "You never stop, do you?"

"Been a long while since we played the cat and mouse game, isn't that right, Andy my best friend?" Chucky asked, then laughed. "I'm gonna f*ck you all up!"

"You can try", Andy snarled, and then fired at Chucky, but he rolled away to avoid. Oliver shot an arrow, but Chucky leapt behind the fallen bin, protecting himself.

Eliot rushed towards the bin, and kicked it away, only to see Chucky was gone.

Oliver and Andy moved forth, weapons trained, while Constantine started chanting, only to feel something. "Bloody hell!"

"What's the matter?" Andy inquired.

"Someone used voodoo to cancel out my spells for a few minutes", Constantine revealed. "They thought this through."

At that moment, Chucky leapt at them from a side again with a roar, Oliver striking him with his bow as he fell down. Andy tried to fire at him but Chucky ran to avoid once more, and then Oliver tried to fire, as Chucky avoided them, before he tried to leap at Andy, only for Eliot to punch him hard from the side, making him gasp in pain as he hit the wall. "AAAARGHH!"

Eliot rushed at him with a kick but Chucky recovered and ran out of the way, his small frame giving him the advantage here.

"Hey mister."

Constantine turned to see Tiffany standing there, while she made a sexy pose. "You look so pretty."

"I can say the same about you, luv", Constantine smirked, looking entranced by her beauty, walking towards her, as she caressed his face gently.

"Very pretty face", she said to him.

"I know", he nodded. "Too bad you can't have it."

Tiffany didn't have time to respond as Constantine decked her hard on the face, knocking her out.

Chucky roared and charged Andy, while Andy tried to fire, getting his shoulder and sending him flying back. "AAAAARGHH! f*ck YOU!"

He rolled away to the side, as the four of them looked around for him, very alert.

Andy walked a little away from the rest of them, crouching near the spot where Chucky last was, only for Chucky to leap behind him, right at his neck, and then wrap a rope around him, slowly choking him, while Andy tried to get him off.

"You and I had a good run, pal", Chucky said while laughing, Andy continuing to choke. "But as they say- Don't f*ck with the Chuck!"

Constantine felt his magic return, and started chanting while his eyes glowed, and Oliver aimed an arrow carefully.

As Andy struggled, Oliver fired. The arrow struck Chucky on the head, and sent him flying backwards while still stuck to him, before exploding, right as Constantine finished his chants, causing everything to shake, and Chucky was heard roaring in agony.

"AAAAAARGHHH! AAAARGHH! NOOOO! FUUUU-"

And then his screaming stopped, Constantine sighing. "Got his soul, mate."

Andy threw the rope off of him, panting, while Eliot helped him up.

Constantine turned around, only to see Tiffany was gone now. "Oh bloody Hell! Now she is gone!"

"She is not as dangerous as he is", Andy pointed out. "We'll get her someday."

"So, is it over?" Oliver inquired.

"For now", Andy sighed. "Thank you all for your help, couldn't have done it without you."

"Don't mention it", Eliot assured him.

Chucky gasped, feeling himself come alive in a new doll body, and realized he was in Tiffany's car, while she was next to him.

"Those f*cks", Chucky said angrily.

"I know, I just used this at the last moment", Tiffany said while holding the Heart of Damballa. "Otherwise, you'd have been gone forever."

"You have done well, Chucky. As has your partner, Tiffany."

Chucky looked around, realizing who it was. "You're back, huh?"

"Who is back?" Tiffany asked, confused.

"So, what do you want, no-faced dude?" Chucky inquired.

"The kills you two committed have empowered me. And Chucky, now all of your soul is within this doll body."

"What the f*ck?" Chucky asked, not believing it.

"I suggest both of you lie low. Because when the time comes, I shall bring you two into the fold, as well as a few others."

Earth-199999

Hunt turned on the lights to reveal all the equipment kept in the IMF warehouse, and he could see how excited Parker and Hardison looked on finding all of this.

"Take what you need", Ethan told them.

"Yeah, take what you-oh I like this", Hardison said as he and Parker started taking stuff, even if they did not know what the 'stuff' was.

Hunt simply rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

Earth-1, Star City

Eliot returned to the warehouse, waving his hair a little as he panted, walking towards his bed. A serial killer possessing a doll, now he'd seen everything.

Before he could sit down on the bed, the hair on Eliot's arm stood up due to him sensing a presence.

"Ah hell."

And then he threw himself down, avoiding three tranq darts that had been fired at him, before rolling and leaping up to see three ARGUS Agents aiming their guns at him, standing at the doorway.

"You need to come with us", one of them said, Eliot noting they were standing on some water, which he had spilled there on purpose.

"Sure", Eliot shrugged, acting as if he was going to raise his hands, when he suddenly grabbed a long wire behind him and hurled it at the agents. It hit the water underneath them, and all three were shocked badly before they fell down, while Eliot ran and leapt past their unconscious bodies, rolling away to avoid two more darts fired at him from either side.

He stood back up and saw as one of them tried to fire again, but Eliot rushed him and leapt, grabbing the dart and stabbing his neck with it, knocking him out, while using him as a shield to defend himself from the other agent's darts as well.

Then he dropped the man and picked up his gun, firing at the other agent and getting him as well, before he dropped the gun and leapt off the stairwell to the ground, kneeing another agent on the face, knocking him out as well.

He grabbed his gun and saw another agent approach, throwing it at his face, making him fall down, and then he saw one more about to fire, but Eliot didn't move at all.

The agent was confused as he took one step forward, only for two pucks in the corners to fire ropes all of a sudden and trip him.

Eliot rushed forth and leapt out of a window, shattering its glass, but before he could land, two agents fired tranq darts at him, and due to already being in motion, he couldn't dodge those.

They struck him, and he was dazed as he fell down, drowsy.

Those two and three more agents came near him, as Eliot tried to get up, only for them to strike him with tasers at the same time as he gritted his teeth, doing his best to resist all of them, but it was too much, as Eliot fell to his knees.

"We got him", one of them said to another agent who arrived.

"Good, let's take him away then", he ordered, and they started doing so.

Universe-208, Tatooine

Blade walked forth, looking ahead at the Mandalorian, who was prepared to battle him, now wearing his helmet.

"Since you do not have weaponry like ours, he shall not use his weapons against you", Vizsla told Blade, then turned to the Mandalorian, who simply nodded.

The two moved towards each other, seeming to stare each other down, even if Blade could not see his opponent's face now.

Suddenly, Blade threw a punch, and the Mandalorian was pushed back quite a bit, even if the helmet absorbed some of the blow, which Blade felt.

"What-the-f*ck?" Blade mouthed to himself, when the Mandalorian grabbed his arm, twirled him around, and flipped him to the ground before kicking his side, making him roll away.

Blade stopped, then flipped up, trying to hit the Mandalorian with a spin kick, that struck and sent him stumbling away by a bit.

"You should just give up right now", the Mandalorian gloated as he recovered.

"Why? You scared, sissy?" Blade taunted, making the Mandalorian angry as he charged, when Blade remembered his shoving had affected this guy earlier.

Punching and kicking would do the trick, but he needed something more.

As the Mandalorian made to strike again, Blade spun and got behind him, before lifting him up by both feet, doing a double leg takedown as the Mandalorian fell, shocked at Blade's strength.

He pulled himself back up, and with a spin, tried to kick Blade on the neck, but Blade ducked to avoid and grabbing his foot, hurled him to the other direction, making him roll away.

Pre Vizsla and Bo-Katan shared a look, then turned back to the fight.

Blade marched towards the Mandalorian, who spun his feet and tried to strike Blade's, but he leapt to avoid, and as he landed, the Mandalorian stood up and threw a punch that Blade ducked to avoid, then grabbed his arm before flipping him over his shoulder.

He crawled away fast and stood back up, turning around, only for Blade to grab him by the throat, and push his helmet off, as he pushed him back.

Then, with a roar, Blade spun and kicked the Mandalorian right on the face, sending him flying before crashing to the ground, groaning in pain while his face bled badly.

Before he could get up, Blade was upon him, and knocked him out with a single punch to the face.

Sighing, he stood back up, walking to where Pre Vizsla and Bo-Katan stood, the two of them and the rest having seen the entire fight, concerned and impressed both.

Without a word, Blade took his shades from Bo-Katan's hand, and put them back on, before walking into the camp, Pre-Vizsla and Bo-Katan sharing another look, thinking about the enigma that was Blade.

Earth-1, Central City

"He tricked us!" Caitlin said, looking very shaken for obvious reasons. "We trusted him and-"

"Me, Barry, Joe, Iris and Professor Stein fell for it too", Cisco pointed out to her. "You don't need to blame yourself for it."

"How did you know?" Cisco then asked as he turned to Strider.

"I suspected him when he seemed to be sure that the breach in this place led to his world", Strider revealed to them. "And then, after a few words by Caitlin he decided to stay here, even though he seemed desperate to get back home. Not to mention, he only came to aid us when the enemy was from his world. Tell me, if Barry was in Jay's place, would he not do more to help?"

The two shared a look, realizing he was right, while Strider continued. "But I did not want to accuse him based on only suspicion. Which was when Batman approached me and Harry here."

"I hacked into your cameras and saw some changed footage, courtesy of Zoom", Batman revealed. "I know I went too far, but I wanted to have every variable checked before I came in here. I'm sorry."

"Well, you did show us his true colors earlier", Caitlin sighed, wiping her eyes. "So we'll let it slide this time."

"He also has a doppelganger in this world, whose name is Hunter Zolomon", Batman revealed. "Zoom's real name is most likely the same too."

"Hunter…." Harry trailed off. "I remember the name. Hunter Zolomon was a serial killer in my world. He was caught and put in an asylum."

"But looks like your Particle Accelerator gave him power", Cisco noted.

"And now my daughter is paying the price for it", Harry said sadly.

"We'll save her Wells", Batman told him.

"How?" He asked. "How are we sure he didn't move her?"

Batman gestured to Cisco, then to the side, and Cisco followed him. "What's up?"

"I know about your powers", Batman revealed, Cisco gasping. "But I will not tell the others, because that's your right, but maybe you can see where his daughter is."

Cisco rubbed his forehead. "I think I should tell them."

"He's waking up!" Caitlin suddenly said, and they all rushed to Barry, whose eyes opened.

"Hey…." He said weakly.

Cisco sighed weakly. "You scared the crap out of us. You were gone for quite a while."

"How bad is it?" Barry inquired.

"Bad", Caitlin confirmed. "If you didn't heal so quickly, I'd be very worried."

"Zoom?" Barry then asked.

"Let's... Let's worry about Zoom when you're up and about, okay?" Cisco said.

"I told you we shouldn't trust what he says so easily", Barry reminded, Cisco and Caitlin having the decency to look sheepish.

Barry had tried to question 'Jay' at first, and didn't take him at his word, but they all had convinced him he should learn to trust again.

Barry had only let 'Jay' out because of the stress from both Sand Demon taking Patty as well as Michael Myers making a return, and also because they all had pushed and convinced him.

Now they realized they should have listened to him earlier.

Barry then started sitting up.

"Oh, no, you're staying put", Caitlin told him.

"She speaks the truth my friend. You look terrible, you should rest", Strider agreed.

"No, guys, I can't feel my legs", Barry shook his head in horror, before looking at their shocked faces. "I can't feel my legs."

Andy pulled up near his cabin, and saw Kyle and Alice open the door for him, while he got out of the car, walking to them happily.

"Chucky has been taken care of", he assured them, sharing a hug with both. "How were things here?"

"They were good, but something strange happened", Kyle revealed, to Andy's surprise.

"Really? What's that?" Andy asked.

"The Chucky head is not speaking anymore, uncle Andy", Alice said. "We do not know why."

"And I tried everything, this is not a trick, he really is gone", Kyle explained, Andy wondering what that was about.

"Maybe Constantine dealt with his soul for good", Andy shrugged, before smiling. "Anyways, with him gone, let's celebrate."

Earth-199999, Hell's Kitchen

"So this breach in this alley is the one that Eliot fell through?" Hunt asked Parker and Hardison, all three packed up fully now.

"This is where his phone was tracked last", Hardison pointed out. "Wherever Eliot went, it was through here."

"Yep, and we're gonna go through here to bring him back too", Parker said with determination in her voice.

"Indeed, let's go people", Hunt nodded, as he, Parker and Hardison walked through the breach, wondering where it would take them.

Chapter 8: More worlds collide

Chapter Text

Earth-199999, New York City

The people were running around from what seemed like a 'Speed Storm', with lightning cracking all over at high speeds.

One of the lightning bolts hit a signal tower, which started falling upon a man, who looked up in horror while some of the lightning was about to strike his hand too. "Somebody save me!"

At that moment, Clark flew in at high speed, managing to fly the man out of the way, while a speed tornado was formed.

"Stay calm sir, I've got you", Clark assured him, flying him away before dropping him at a distance, where many other people had been gathered too.

"What is that?" One of the women asked.

"Nothing good", Tony said as he landed near them. "Anyways, all of you should get out of dodge right now, because this ain't stopping anytime soon."

"What about you all?" One of the men asked.

"We will try to stop it", Clark shrugged, as the people all ran off, while the speed storm continued to grow.

Then, lightning cracked in the sky, while clouds appeared, everything darkening, as Thor hovered in the air, twirling Mjolnir.

"Storm of speed, I command thee halt!" Thor declared, twirling Mjolnir faster, and the speed storm seemed to disperse, with all of the tornadoes twirling into the air before going into his hammer, dissipating completely.

"Good work, Thor", Steve said from where he stood on top of a building.

"I'm getting alerts", Tony revealed. "More of these keep coming all over the world. And we can't stop all of them!"

"What are we supposed to do now?" Natasha wondered, when Bart sped in, standing next to Clark and Tony.

"I can't let others suffer just so that I don't die", Bart told everyone.

"That doesn't mean you should throw your life away, Bart!" Clark pointed out to him.

"And what about the lives of all these people?!" Bart inquired. "I only used to think about myself, how I can help myself, live out my life while not giving a damn about anything. But you…you showed me I could be better, and that I could be part of something bigger than just myself. I can't let these people die to save myself, amigo."

"Bart…" Clark trailed off, proud as well as stricken with grief over what his friend planned to do at the same time.

"I have a plan, my friend", Thor said as he flew down to the ground, landing next to the other three.

"You're…Thor, right?" Bart asked, not believing it, Thor simply nodding. "Damn! Can't believe I'm face to face with a God. Like, are you omnipot-"

"Nay, I'm a God, but I'm not the most powerful being out there", Thor told Bart. "However, if my plan works, we can stop all this, and save you."

"Really? How?" Bart asked.

"Only you can see this Speed Demon of Death, am I correct?" Thor asked.

"Yeah, that's correct, amigo", Bart said, then slapped his head. "Sorry, shouldn't talk to you like that."

Thor paid that no mind, and simply said. "In that case, here is what we shall be doing-"

Earth-1, Star City

Oliver Queen in his Green Arrow suit was back in the safehouse where Eliot stayed. It might be strange but, Oliver had started preferring spending time with him over anyone in his team.

Eliot seemed to be the only one who wanted Oliver to stay true to who he truly was, rather than trying to (or guilting him to, more accurately) make him someone he is not.

Because of him, Oliver had realized that his fighting skills had deteriorated, because he'd let his team's constant criticism against him and his methods get to him on a very deep level, and in trying to win over their approval, he had started holding back a bit too much.

But now he knew they'd never be pleased no matter how hard he tried. They were still his friends, and he still cared about all of them, but it was time they respected him and his leadership as well.

Though as Oliver looked around here, he was shocked to see the entire place a mess, and looking down, he saw a few tranq darts.

"No…" he whispered as he knelt down, picking one up to examine it closely.

"Green Arrow!"Felicity's voice came on the comms.

"Talk to me", Oliver told her.

"Breach activity on 5thBoulevard", Felicity said. "Some people are coming through."

"I'm gonna go check", Oliver said, before firing a grapple arrow and using it to swing away.

Later

Oliver swung right in front of the area where the breach was appearing, with three figures walking out of it.

As he watched, he realized it was two men and one woman.

Oliver quickly nocked an arrow, making one of the men, whose skin was light, aim a gun at him.

"Why are you here?!" Oliver asked with a snarl.

"Looking for a badass. About yay tall," Hardison gestured to Eliot's height, "has a soul patch, great voice, kind of awesome in a country way-"

"Refers to things as very distinctive, doesn't like guns, beautiful hair-" Parker continued.

"Makes you rethink every decision you made in your life but turns out he's just making you a better person in the end." Hardison and Parker went wide eyed and looked at Ethan, who noticed the looks. "What?"

Meanwhile, Oliver was thinking,'Yeah, these people definitely know Eliot.'

So he simply said. "All right, here's what we'll do. I think I know your friend, so we will count to three, and say his full name together, just to confirm."

"That works", Hunt nodded.

So, the four of them counted to three mentally, then said it-

"Eliot Spencer!"

"Oh yeah!" Hardison said immediately. "That's him. You know the guy?"

"So, you know his name. How do we know we can trust you?" Ethan then asked Oliver.

"Oh come on, with that suit, and the bow and arrows, he is clearly a vigilante superhero", Hardison pointed out. "Nowadays, they are the most trustworthy lot."

"What you said about Eliot, he did the same for me", Oliver told Hunt. "He said two people would come for him. I think he was one short."

"Most likely didn't count on me", Hunt told Oliver, while gesturing to Parker and Hardison. "Because these two are with him almost all the time."

"Some people have taken Eliot", Oliver revealed, lowering his bow while the other three looked shocked, Hunt lowering his gun as well. "And we need to get him back now."

Earth-92

Angel and Buffy Summers looked at each other, having agreed in this meetup after her resurrection that they should keep their distance for now, as it'd be for the best.

"Well then", Buffy said, Angel nodding, as she turned to walk off, when suddenly Buffy fell into a blue portal that opened up.

"No!" Angel cried out as he leapt after her, and the two ended up falling, seeing various things in the way.

First they saw some person in a green and brown type of armor with a helmet, wielding a flaming sword.

Then they saw a guy with spiky white hair, having markings on his face and muscular body, wearing gauntlets having no pupils, with his eyes glowing as he growled.

Next, they saw a beautiful woman with a tall figure, having black hair wrapped into a beehive-like hairdo and grey eyes, a mole at the bottom of her left cheek close to her lips, with a skintight suit.

After that, they witnessed a tiny dragon with wings, having green skin, and purple horns and claws.

Next, they saw a handsome but scrawny young man with black hair and violet eyes, wearing some kind of uniform.

Then they came upon a short, blonde man wearing his hair like a braid, with one strand of the hair standing up like an antenna.

Next up, they saw three very alluring people, two men, one dirty blonde and the other a brunette, and a blonde woman, walking forth. They had similar facial features, clearly siblings.

And then they witnessed a medium-sized black-haired and hazel-eyed woman.

After that, they saw a young boy wearing blue shorts with cuffs, sandals, and a sleeveless red vest, while having a straw hat.

Then, the last thing they saw was a man in a trench coat wandering around, right before both of them fell onto the ground, groaning.

"What just happened?" Buffy muttered, as Angel got up first.

"We fell through something that looks like the wormhole thing from all those months ago", Angel noted as he gave her a hand that she took, letting him help her up.

"And where are we?" Buffy now wondered, Angel looking ahead at the sign of Canonsburg, PA.

"Pennsylvania?" Angel asked in wonder, the two walking ahead. "How did that happen?"

"By falling into the blue portal thingy", Buffy muttered, when Angel looked at the sky.

"The sun is coming up", he realized, the two entering the town. "Guess I'll need to lay low somewhere."

"An Oktoberfest?" Buffy said in confusion on noticing a sign of that, but the year written had her even more shocked. "…In 2008?"

"Did we time-travel?" Angel wondered as well now.

"I think I should scout the place, get an idea about it", Buffy finally decided. "Maybe we can find a way back if we do that."

"Not your area of expertise, Buffy", Angel pointed out.

"Hey!" Buffy turned to him. "I'm not that bad!"

"You're great at many things, Buffy", Angel assured her. "But you should know what are the things you're not good at either."

He still cared about her, and always would, and part of him would always love her. But all this time apart, he did not look back at his time in Sunnydale, and his relationship with her, with rose-tinted glasses anymore.

He wasn't proud of how he'd stalked her, or how he'd been attracted to her on seeing her sucking on a lollipop when she was so young. Clearly, not the best moments of his unlife, which was an understatement.

And then there was sleeping with her when she was 17 and he was an adult even in human years. It had also turned him into Angelus, because he'd now realized he was living only for her at the time, hence being with her then had made him perfectly happy.

He was positive if he got into a relationship now, sex or even being with the person wouldn't make him perfectly happy, because now he lived like a normal person (as normal as things could get for a Vampire with a soul), and had many more things to live for than just one person.

Not to mention looking back, Buffy wasn't the best leader of the Scoobies, and had flaws in her thinking and strategies, which she still hadn't grown over.

He hoped she would, and he knew she could but right now, she hadn't.

"I'm not saying this to hurt you, I'm saying this because I know you can get better at it if you try", Angel assured her. "But right now, its best to not do it on your own."

Buffy sighed, realizing his point now, and nodded, the two reaching a dark alley under a shade. "So, what do you think I should do?"

"Well, I mean, this time would have Internet, right?" Angel asked her.

"Angel, we have Internet in our time too", Buffy pointed out, and he nodded while cringing a bit.

"Right, so perhaps you can look there, while I hide out in the dark", Angel told her and she nodded, walking off.

"Got it."

Earth-199999, Los Angeles

A speed storm had broken out in this place too, as people ran around in terror, trying to avoid the tornadoes that popped up, when Clark flew in, flying a few people out of the way quickly.

"Bart, you're up!" Steve told him via comms.

"Yeah, and doing it fast will be appreciated", Tony added, as he grabbed two more people and flew them away, while Hulk leapt in the way of a speed storm to defend a group from it, growling.

"Only way I know how", Bart said as he rushed in, holding out his hand towards one of the tornadoes, and absorbing its power into himself. "This thing will not come after me again!"

He cracked with multi-colored lightning, before rushing forth as he saw the black figure standing up ahead in front of another today.

"Bart!" Clark cried out.

"Be right back", Bart told Clark, before rushing towards the Black Racer. "Ya want speed, don't ya? Well, here it is."

The Black Racer rushed at Bart, who ran as fast as he could, and avoided its attempt to grab him, though he knew that this was it. It was now or never.

Before the Black Racer could attempt once more, Bart gave it an uppercut with all the strength and momentum he had built up from his run and the Speed Force absorption from the speed storm tornado.

The power of the uppercut sent the Black Racer flying into the air as it screeched in anger, before falling to the ground, not noticing that something was coming onto the surface of the ground.

Before it could get up, the Bifrost surrounded it, scorching the ground that it was upon.

"What is…."The Black Racer snarled as it started standing up. "This is…not…."

Bart then rushed at Clark, while Thor aimed Mjolnir at the speedster. The speed storm that he had absorbed, he unleashed it upon Bart, who screamed while touching Clark, the combination of Mjolnir and the speed storm transferring the speed into Clark temporarily, the Kryptonian now glowing with Speed Force lightning, now able to see the Black Racer himself.

The Black Racer was about to run out of the Bifrost's area, when the Speed Force empowered Clark rushed towards it, getting into the Bifrost and grabbing the Black Racer by the throat.

"Here!" Clark snarled. "Take all of this speed!"

"Now!" Thor roared, and as Clark held the Black Racer in his grip, the Speed Demon slowly absorbing all the speed in an attempt to get free, the Bifrost faded, taking Clark and the Black Racer with it.

"Is it done?" Clint inquired, everyone looking up in anticipation.

Svartalfheim

The Bifrost struck the ground of the now abandoned Dark Elf Realm, where Clark continued to give the speed up to the Black Racer.

"What is…"The Black Racer trailed off in horror when there was a giant explosion, that made powerful winds flutter over the entire area, while also levelling a cliff, with Clark gritting his teeth when he felt himself glitch again, and groaned in pain as he fell to his knees while the explosion made him fly back by a few feet.

He lay on the ground, panting, not really tired, but affected by the combination of his glitching and the explosion he'd endured, not to mention, taking the Speed Force within him temporarily.

As he opened his eyes, he noted how deserted the entire world looked, and very dark, with little light there, and then he felt himself weaken, realizing there was no sun here, and because of that, he had started running out of power already.

"Get me out….." Clark trailed off, as the Bifrost struck the ground around him once more, and then faded, taking Clark with it.

Midgard

The Bifrost struck the ground again, and then Clark appeared while it faded, as Clark panted, falling to his knees, before raising his hand up into the sky, taking in the energy of the sun.

"You all right, amigo?" Bart asked carefully as he walked next to Clark, grasping his friend gently by the shoulder.

"We…..did it…." Clark said with a smile, as Bart broke out into a smile too. "And I just travelled through the Bifrost!"

"Hell yeah!" Bart cheered happily. "I owe you everything, amigo!"

"Even if I couldn't catch you, I guess I caught your fear", Clark noted, as he and Bart flashed back to a simpler time.

7 years ago, Earth-21, Smallville

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to change your mind?" Clark asked Bart as they stood in the barn, Bart looking the other way.

"Tell you what…" Bart trailed off, before smirking as he turned around. "If….you can catch me, I'll think about it."

With that, he ran off at superspeed, while a smirking Clark ran behind him.

The two ran through the fields, before Bart turned around and started running backwards at superspeed, still ahead of Clark, the two exchanging a smile.

Then Bart did a mock salute, and turned around, running off so fast that he looked to be in superspeed to Clark, who was himself running at superspeed.

Clark stopped, a little disappointed that Bart wasn't sticking around, but still managing to smile, hoping the speedster did find others like them.

Present Day, Earth-199999, Los Angeles

"You did, amigo", Bart nodded, helping Clark stand up. "Not catching me though."

Both chuckled at that, when Tony walked up next to them. "So Clark, I just did a scan of you, the Speed Force within you is gone."

"That's good."

"Also-"

"What?" Clark inquired.

"There is no radiation on you either", Tony revealed, Clark's eyes widening.

"That means…"

"Oh yeah", Tony nodded in agreement, as the other Avengers gathered nearby.

"Good work everyone", Steve complimented the rest, looking at Bart, Clark and Thor. "The three of you have done it."

Suddenly, Clark and Bart glitched again, both falling down, as Tony said. "Think we should start working on a way to make a path back to their world as well."

Earth-1, Star City

The team had all gotten a call, and had assembled in the lair, when they saw Oliver walk in, alongside three strangers, to their shock.

Diggle was the first to talk. "Umm, Oliver, what the hell?"

"Guys, this is Ethan, Parker, and Hardison." The three nodded, waved, and lazily saluted, respectively.

"Hi." Ethan gave a half smile that Thea, Laurel, Sara, and Felicity couldn't help find extremely charming.

"They're from Eliot's world."

"Eliot, as in new masked buddy Eliot?" Laurel inquired to Oliver.

This of course meant to the three that Eliot had been busy, even in a new world.

"Does that man ever take a vacation?" Hardison asked incredulously to the only other people who knew the hitter.

Parker shrugged. "Probably when he's dead."

"So, basically never", Ethan further explained, and they agreed on that statement.

"Look, he's been taken, and we need all hands-on deck to find him, our normal way of doing things are on hold until we get him back. So, to speed things along: Thea, Diggle, Laurel, Sara, and Felicity." Oliver gestured to each one when saying their name. Felicity awkwardly waved.

Then she said. "So, I've been trying to look at the footage around the safehouse for several blocks, but they've been wiped clean, so there's no footage, and even I can't find out where this came from."

At that moment, Hardison pulled Felicity's chairs from the computers, sitting there and pretty much taking over.

Felicity started. "Hey, that's my stat-"

"Let him do his work", Oliver told her, and she stopped. "If Eliot's skills are anything to go by, then I have a feeling the people he works with are just as good."

"So you've seen what Eliot does?" Hardison asked over his shoulder, his fingers tapping over the keyboard at inhuman speeds, with Oliver nodding in response. "Well then, let the master magician show you what he can do."

Felicity looked over Hardison's shoulder, still ticked at someone touching her babies. "I already did tha-" then the screen showed camera footage of vans outside Eliot's safehouse, and carrying him away, constantly shocking him with tasers.

Hardison, Parker, and Ethan didn't speak for a moment as they watched the screen. Even as the group made it to the van, Eliot pulled his arm free and used one of his captor's tasers on his friend while kicking the one behind him, pulling the same guy in his grip in front of him to shield himself before bashing his head against the van and throwing him forward, only to get shot by another geared up kidnapper.

Eliot hit the ground, and the one who shot him approached to cuff him, but Eliot kicked his leg out from under him and grabbed his masked face, but the man rolled away as the other men returned and prodded him with all their tasers while the now unmasked man kicked his head, dazing Eliot, and let the men cuff and restrain him before throwing him into the van.

Hunt looked at Parker and Hardison, both clearly looking enraged at what they were seeing, not that he could blame them. He was pretty angry himself, and the two were much closer to Eliot than he was.

Oliver clutched his fists, the rest of Team Arrow sharing a look.

Ethan had to shake Hardison out of his rage induced stupor, and composing himself, Hardison typed a bit, getting further ahead, typing in code after code that seemed to bring him closer to his destination as he said. "I knew that the closed-circuit cameras had to be wiped locally, so I found the source and backtracked it to the big boss, and I'm almost…here it is. I don't know the name- ARGUS?"

"Waller." Oliver growled, knowing 99% until now it was her, but now he knew it 100%, and with the culprit confirmed to him, he could now make a better plan to rescue his friend.

"Not a fan I take it?" Ethan asked rhetorically.

Oliver briefly summarized. "ARGUS is a research group and special ops division of the US government, tasked with taking down terrorist threats in secrecy and without public knowledge. But their leader, Amanda Waller, she is as bad as the people she takes down, and shows no regards for human lives. She has gone as far as extortion, mostly threatening families of people whose skills she found useful to make them work for her. She threatened an innocent family once to keep me under her thumb, and one time she was willing to take out an entire plane just to kill one target inside. She has this task force called Task Force X, made up of some very dangerous criminals, who get bombs put in their heads to listen to every word of hers."

All three newcomers clearly looked disgusted, as well as concerned for Eliot, before Ethan summed up. "So we're dealing with a less friendly SHIELD that seems more like HYDRA."

"We've been here for five minutes, but I got to say, your world sucks", Parker told Team Arrow.

"We do have serious sickos on our world...and I can't believe I just said "our world" in that context", Thea had to say.

"All right, tell me who this son of a bitch is", Hardison said as he started hacking into every database he could to identify the unmasked man from the footage. In a few minutes, he got a picture of the man in a US army uniform. "Richard Roger Flag. West Point graduate. Colonel. US Army. Special Forces. Real black ops stuff." Hardison squinted his eyes as he read more, the whole dossier reminding him of something. "Iraq, Afghanistan, Qurac, wherever the hell that is. Bronze Star, Silver Star, medal, medal, medal, etcetera." Hardison typed on the keys for more, only to be met with files nearly blacked out entirely. "And more black ink than a pen factory."

"Is it just me, or does he remind you of-"

"Nah, no, no way." Hardison waved off Parker, before he froze after seeing more blacked out files. "Okay maybe a little."

"Who?"

"He's almost like another version of Eliot", Ethan answered for the confused Oliver, along with the rest of his team. "Eliot was one of the Army's best operators before he was discharged."

"That's where they differ. This Flag guy stayed, but transferred to a branch of DHS," Hardison did his magic and found the name. "Which is ARGUS."

Oliver felt his blood boil at the name again, Ethan noticing the anger in him and his team, the archer snarling. "Waller will pay for this."

Earth-205

Buffy had just looked things up in an Internet café, and what she had found out had scared her, so she had come to a small abandoned warehouse where Angel had decided to hide out.

"I tried to look up Sunnydale to see how far it'd be from here, but I didn't find it on the Internet", Buffy revealed, surprising Angel. "I think something really wrong has happened in this future, we need to get to where Sunnydale is fast!"

"Buffy", Angel started.

"Come on, this could be bad!"

"Keep your head on straight", Angel put a hand on her shoulder. "We don't know what the hell is going on. The last thing we need is for you to run off half-co*cked, and expect things to turn out okay when in reality, neither of us have any clue what to do."

That calmed Buffy down as she realized. "Yeah, guess you're right. Not been in the best state for a while."

"I get that, but if we want to get out of this, we need to think clearly", Angel pointed out, before asking her. "So, did you look up Wolfram and Hart?"

"Umm, no, why?" Buffy inquired as Angel groaned.

"You looked up one thing regarding yourself, but nothing about anything else", Angel pointed out. "I've been sitting here and thinking. Maybe we're not in the future."

"Then where are we?" Buffy asked.

"Remember Willow's Vampire self?" Angel asked, Buffy nodding. "Well, she was from an alternate reality, and I've been to a different Dimension a few months ago myself, plus I've heard stories of mirror worlds."

"So, what are you saying?" Buffy inquired.

"Maybe this is not our world", Angel told her. "And whatever the wormhole was, it opened a way between our world and others, this being one of them."

"Angel, that's crazy", Buffy told him.

"You were dead for months, and you say you're in Heaven, now you're alive again", Angel pointed out, the reference to Heaven making her face drop a bit. "And you thought we'd time-travelled. But this is crazy?"

"Okay, fair point, considering the example with Vampire Willow's reality you gave", Buffy sighed. "What should we do?"

"I'm thinking at night, we can split up and try to find out a bit more about this place, who knows? Something will pop up", Angel pointed out.

Earth-199999, New York City, Avengers Tower

"How long now?" Bart asked.

"Just two more minutes", Banner assured him.

"Even that's too long for me", Bart groaned.

"We understand son, just be a little patient", Steve assured him. "You survived the thing chasing you. Both of you can deal with this for a little longer."

Tony tinkered with the device a little bit longer, as sparks flew, and then he went. "Tada!"

"Is it done?" Clark inquired.

"This is a device that can focus on your frequencies to open a stable portal to your world, and it can open ways between both our worlds", Tony revealed.

"Meaning we can go through these to meet anytime we need", Bart realized.

"And with no cellular decay this time", Clark noted as Tony nodded.

"Yes, meet the Inter Dimensional Initial Opening Tool." Natasha rolled her eyes.

"I.D.I.O.T.?" Clint asked.

"Patent pending", Tony shrugged shamelessly.

"We begged him to change the name", Banner moaned.

"Too late, it's stuck."

Suddenly, there was a bright light in the room, and then Oliver, Lois, Chloe, Tess and Emil appeared, all holding the Mirror Box.

"Lois?" Clark said in disbelief, as she rushed to him and kissed him on the lips, Clark returning it without any complaints.

After a whole minute, the two broke apart as Lois asked. "Oh my God! Are you all right, Clark?" She turned to Bart. "You too, is everything okay?"

"It will be now", Clark assured her, before looking at Oliver, Chloe, Tess and Emil. "Thank you for coming."

"How did you lot find us though?" Bart inquired.

"Modified the Mirror Box to track you", Emil told Clark.

"I knew you guys could do it", Clark said.

"So, a little lost here, these your friends?" Tony asked Clark and Bart.

"We'd be just that", Oliver said. "Mr…"

"Tony Stark. Genius, billionaire, philanthropist", Tony shrugged as he raised his arms to either side. "And Iron Man."

"Oliver Queen. Billionaire, philanthropist", Oliver said in reply with a smirk. "I'm the Green Arrow."

"I'd love to see how well you shoot sometime", Clint told him as he held up his own bow. "I'm Hawkeye, by the way."

"Guess its on", Oliver quipped, the rest chuckling at the antics of the two archers.

"Guys, meet our friends from our Earth. You know Oliver. These are Lois, Chloe, Tess and Emil", Clark gestured to each of them, as the former two waved while the latter two nodded on being introduced, while Clark turned to his friends. "These are the Avengers, the heroes of this Earth. You know Tony, the rest are Steve, Dr. Banner, Natasha, Clint and Thor."

The Avengers simply nodded on being introduced, before Lois asked. "Thor? Like the God?"

"Exactly like the God", Bart shrugged, making their jaws drop.

"Whoa! Didn't expect that", Oliver had to say.

"Meeting a God from the myths in the flesh? Yeah, I have to agree", Tess noted.

"You are a good hero, Clark. You as well, Bart", Thor said to Clark and Bart. "It was an honor to fight alongside the two of you."

"It was our honor as well", Clark said, shaking hands with him, before shaking hands with Tony and Banner. "Thank you, for all your help."

"Its no problem, Supes", Tony shrugged.

"It was a pleasure to meet all of you, but I'm sure you all need to get back to your worlds", Steve noted.

"Yeah, in a bit of a hurry right now", Chloe said.

"As are we", Bart revealed.

"So", Emil held up the Mirror Box.

"I think we should try this IDIOT", Clark took the IDIOT from Tony.

"IDIOT?" Lois questioned, the rest sharing a confused look.

"Long story", Bart muttered.

"I gave it a name that shortens to that", Tony smirked.

"Okay, not that long", Bart sighed.

"That...that's new", Oliver commented, as Clark then pressed a button, and a portal was opened.

"They made that?" Emil asked in surprise as he gestured to Tony and Banner.

"The geniuses of this Earth made an IDIOT, yes", Bart shrugged, before speeding into the portal.

"Come on", Clark said, as he and Lois held hands, and group shared one more nod with the Avengers, before all of them walked through it, back to their world, the portal closing soon afterwards.

"And that's one more adventure for the Avengers done", Tony quipped.

Earth-21, Metropolis

A portal opened as Bart sped out, then Clark, Lois, Oliver, Chloe, Tess and Emil walked out, with this portal closing too, Clark commenting. "So it works then."

They were in the warehouse from before, but nothing was there anymore.

"Ah, dear old Lex, cleaned up the mess", Oliver muttered.

"Not really surprised there", Bart shrugged, as he and Clark sped everyone out of there, back to the Watchtower.

"We were all so worried", Chloe had to say. "Especially Lois here."

"Good to have you both back", Oliver agreed, patting Clark's shoulder.

"Lois, I want to tell you something", Clark then said as he turned to her.

"What is it, Smallville?" Lois inquired.

"Over there, I had to absorb some of the Speed Force briefly, and it took out the radiation Lex had dosed me with", Clark revealed, Lois' face one of disbelief and joy at the same time, while he smiled. "I can come back home."

Lois didn't say a word, simply kissed him happily on the lips, while Clark returned the kiss with no complaints.

Earth-1, Star City

Hardison was hard at work, searching through every street camera, backtracking the ownership of every unoccupied warehouse and building, working triple time, before the image of an old QC owned office popped up. "I think this is the place."

"You sure?" Oliver asked. "That building belongs to the company I used to own."

"Its been empty for years, but I found out a lot of electricity started being used here, in this week itself", Hardison revealed, Oliver's eyes narrowing.

"ARGUS could be using it as an off the books safehouse", Oliver realized, before walking over to his bow and picking it up. "Time to go now."

Ethan started gearing up at that point. "This is your city, and your world, I respect that, but Eliot is my friend, he has saved my life more times than I could count. Get in my way, you're my enemy too."

"I have no problem with you coming", Oliver assured Hunt.

Diggle started. "But Oliver-"

"No arguments, Diggle", Oliver told him.

"I think we'll stay here and hold the fort", Sara said, Oliver nodding, appreciating that even though she'd just been resurrected, she had his back and knew what was best. "You go and get your friend back."

"Thank you Sara", Oliver said, while Parker stepped forth.

"I'm coming too, I'll help free him", Parker assured.

"Be careful", Hardison told her, as they shared a kiss.

"Anyways, get ready, and then we'll go", Oliver said, Hunt and Parker nodding.

A while later, abandoned QC building

Oliver was perched outside the place, very close, as he said into the earpiece. "Hardison, do your thing."

Felicity was trying to type in something, only for Hardison to slap her hand away. "No touch, in the zone."

Felicity looked offended, and folded her arms, then stepped back, before Hardison pressed a few buttons. "Commencing in 3…2…1…"

In the building, all lights went out, Hardison having caused a blackout.

"Go!" Oliver said before using a grapple arrow to swing in himself. He watched as some ARGUS Agents walked out with guns out, and quickly nocking an arrow, he fired, getting the gun of one of them.

All of them tried to fire at him but he rushed away and leaping, fired another arrow, that multiplied into many, and disarmed all of them.

With that, Oliver fired at one agent, getting his shoulder as he went down, and then leaping, he wrapped one's neck between his feet and flipped him down, knocking him out, before spinning and striking two of them in their guts, making them fall down as well.

One more tried to strike him but Oliver spun and kicked his ankle, breaking it as he gasped in pain while Oliver punched him out.

Another one tried to strike him with a knife from behind but Oliver side-stepped, grabbed his hand, then flipped him over his shoulder, disarming him, before kicking him out.

Smirking, Oliver whispered. "Thanks Eliot." And then he leapt into the air and flipped, firing at another agent that had just entered the room, getting his shoulder and putting him down.

Flag was on his way as well, but seeing Green Arrow beating up his agents, he realized it was a trap, and started making his way back.

Hunt swung down from a hole he'd made in the rooftop into the room where Hardison had said the most electricity was being used.

Some agents left in the room were about to turn towards him, but Hunt, quick on the draw, used his gun, firing at all of them, getting them in non-lethal spots as they went down.

Hunt turned to where Eliot was, seeing he was tied up in a bolted down chair, with restraints on both wrists, neck and legs, blood pouring out of him at some points.

He was saddened on seeing him in this condition, and he made to move towards him, when Flag stepped in, and snarled at him. "Real smart, the blackout, the diversion, but not smart enough"

Hunt fired at Flag, who leapt away and took cover, then fired at Ethan, who also took cover, though Flag avoided firing at Eliot.

Parker, who'd climbed the building, snuck in at that point, and Flag fired at her but she rolled away to avoid, taking cover.

Hunt got up and fired again, Flag ducking to avoid, before firing back as Hunt took cover once more near a big drawer, and the firing continued for a while, before Hunt fired, only to hear the click of a gun, realizing he'd run out.

Flag got up and started approaching Hunt.

Hunt then pushed the drawer, making it drop on Flag, who barely avoided, just as Hunt popped out and grabbed Flag's hand, kneed him, turned around, then twisted his wrist, disarming him of his gun. Flag punched him in the back of the head, but Hunt elbowed his face.

Then turning around, Hunt tried to strike a few times as Flag blocked, then kicked Hunt's chest, sending him back. Hunt tried to strike but Flag ducked and grabbed Hunt by the waist, trying to push him towards some tables to slam him, Hunt resisted, causing Flag to punch his back, while Hunt kneed his chest and elbowed his back twice, until Flag threw both of them down on the ground as they groaned.

Hunt got up and tried to punch, then elbow, but Flag blocked the blows and as Hunt tried to strike again, Flag blocked and struck the side of his neck, before throwing Hunt off as he rolled away.

Ethan got up, while Rick grabbed a laptop from a desk, smashing it on Hunt's back. In return, Hunt ripped out a keyboard from the desk and struck Flag's hand, making him drop the laptop, then struck him twice with it, before he blocked the 3rd time, Hunt dropping the keyboard as Flag punched his gut, then punched him back, but Hunt spun and kicked his face, sending him back too.

Hunt tried to strike again but Flag grabbed his arm and kicked his chest, then pinned him to a pillar and kneed his back, only for Hunt to elbow his face, freeing himself. Hunt tried to elbow again as Flag blocked, and then Flag blocked a kick of his too, before trying to punch as Hunt blocked, and both were in a deadlock for a bit, until Hunt punched Flag's side and kicked his leg, but Flag decked Hunt and tried to kick, only for Hunt to grab his foot, and slam him into a table, shattering it, before continuing to pound upon him.

Flag tried to roll them over, and got behind Hunt, striking him in the back a few times before Hunt grabbed his wrist and flipped him over his shoulder, making him fall the other way, and as he tried to get up, Hunt leapt and kicked his chest, sending him falling away.

Rick got up with a groan, as Hunt tried to strike again a few times that Flag blocked, before punching his face and elbowing his chest, and then tried to strike again but Hunt grabbed his arm, elbowed his face, and then threw him to the ground.

He marched towards Flag who got up and tried to strike again but Hunt dodged and grabbing him, slammed him to a drawer twice, then kneed him twice.

Flag kept his foot on the drawer and using it to give himself momentum, leapt and flipped, throwing Hunt off. Hunt got up but Flag kicked him to a door, then charged but Hunt grabbed him as both fell through it.

They got up, Hunt trying to punch as Flag blocked and decked his face twice, before trying to punch again as Hunt blocked and decked him twice too, then grabbed his head before trying to knee him, but Flag freed himself, decked Hunt's face, then spun and grabbed his arm, getting him in a chokehold.

Ethan grunted, and elbowed Flag in the crotch, making him grunt in pain as he let go, while Ethan turned and push kicked Flag, sending him flying out the glass window that was shattered.

Panting, Hunt rushed to where Eliot was, where Parker was already freeing Eliot, having reached him during the fight between Hunt and Flag.

Eliot had one dislocated wrist, because he'd tried to free himself during the fight, but the rest of him had still been restrained until Parker had freed him.

"Oh no!" Parker whispered in horror, then spoke into her earpiece as Oliver arrived. "We have Eliot, but he's not in a good shape."

"Come on, we got you buddy", Hunt said, gently supporting Eliot away alongside Parker, with Oliver walking with them.

Cables had been connected to his chair to electrocute him, drills had been used on his legs, and he was wet from waterboarding too.

Who knew what they'd have done to him had Oliver, Parker, Hardison and Hunt not pulled out all the stops.

Earth-205

Buffy and Angel had split up to look around the area, while Buffy was walking around, looking here and there.

This new place, presumably in the future and a different world, it was making her feel different from the monotony she was experiencing back home when she'd been brought back.

She'd been in Heaven, and she was at peace. But now, the normal world felt like Hell, with nothing to live for, nothing to strive towards.

The only two people she'd told were Spike and Angel.

She wondered how she'd cope when she went back.

At that moment, she heard a woman's scream, and ran in the direction, only to see what looked like a werewolf straight out of the 1941 'Wolf Man' movie tearing apart a man while his girlfriend screamed in the car.

"What the…?" Buffy muttered, looking at the werewolf with the furry face, black nose, claws and the torn-up pants and shirt. She called out to it. "Hey!"

It turned to her as she rushed it and flipping, kicked it hard on the face, making it fly back and fall down, grunting in pain. "You're 60 years too late, pal."

The werewolf growled at her, and started rushing away. Buffy rolled and getting close to it, grabbed it by the back of the neck, only to hear a ripping sound as part of its skin ended up in her hand, while it growled in pain and leapt away.

"Ewww, eww, eww!" She muttered, looking at the skin in her hand that she dropped in disgust.

Angel was walking through an alley, when he accidentally bumped into two men in suits, one the same size as him, the other a few inches taller.

"Sorry", Angel apologized before walking off, hands in his pockets, as Sam and Dean watched after him, getting an 'off' feeling from the guy.

"My hunter sense is tingling", Dean whispered to Sam about Angel, who heard.

So these were hunters? Better be careful then.

"Yeah, but I think our priority should be the Vampire, who knows how many more people that one will put in the morgue?" Sam told him, Dean nodding as they walked off, while Angel's ears perked up.

The town had a Vampire killer, and someone was already in the morgue too. Well, the two hunters seemed to have an 'off' feeling from him, and he was a Vampire. So he decided he should look into this.

Having snuck into the morgue, Angel pulled out the cabinet that had the body of the Vampire victim. Looking at the puncture wounds, the bite looked exactly like what a Vampire would make.

But it was too clean, he had to say, as if this was in a movie.

As good as Vampires were at feeding in real life, drinking blood sent them into a frenzy, and a mess was always made. So, there was more to this.

A while later, Angel and Buffy were both back in the warehouse, as he asked her. "Anything?"

Squeamishly, Buffy pulled out the wrapped up skin of the werewolf. "Accidentally ripped it off the Wolf Man's neck."

"So, there's a werewolf here too?" Angel muttered.

"'Too'?" Buffy asked in dread.

"I heard two hunters discussing a Vampire attack here, checked the body in the morgue, but I have to say, it was too clean, like in a movie", Angel explained to Buffy. "Not like how its in real life."

"Well, the werewolf I saw looked exactly like the Wolf Man from the 1941 film, rather than what Oz turned into", Buffy revealed, to Angel's surprise.

"So, there is more to this then", Angel noted. "Just like I'd thought."

"So, we have delicate Vamps and skin shedding Werewolves...what is this, Monsterville?" Buffy joked.

A while later, Angel and Buffy had heard people talking out some 'mummy' having murdered a guard, and were on their way to the museum, and were about to reach the place through an alley, when they heard the clicking of guns behind them, and turned around to see Dean and Sam pointing guns at them.

"I knew something was off about you", Dean snarled at Angel, then turned to Buffy. "And the werewolf victim's girlfriend mentioned a blonde girl going after it. Well, here you two are. So, what are you two up to?"

Buffy raised her hands and tried to calm the situation down. "Let's talk about this. We're not enemies here. I'm the Slayer."

"...you're a what now?" Dean asked in confusion.

"The Slayer. You know, the girl chosen to fight the forces of darkness, save the world."

Dean and Sam looked at each other, both thinking the same thing before Dean said it. "You touched in the head or something? Otherwise, you've been doing a crap job of it."

"Hey!"

"Okay, let's just calm down." Angel pushed Buffy behind him and addressed the guys. "Clearly there's a few things going on we don't understand-"

"No kidding", Sam quipped.

"-but we aren't the bad guys. Look, if we're being honest, I'm a Vampire, but I have a soul."

The brothers again shared a look, this one, confused, before Dean asked. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You know, a soul, I'm a Vampire with a soul. I'm good!"

"That's not a thing", Sam shook his head.

"It's definitely a thing."

"Oh yeah? How do you kill a Vampire?" Dean inquired.

"Well, there's a number of ways, wood through the heart-"

"EEERRRR! Wrong answer." Dean aimed his gun more firmly now.

"I think I know how to kill me!"

"How about I take your head to be sure?" Dean inquired.

"Dean!" Sam stopped the "Vampire with a soul" and his brother's arguing. Looking between the two strangers, Sam sighed before holstering his gun, to the disbelief of his brother. "Obviously, there's more going here than we know, clearly you guys aren't the murderers."

"He admitted he's a Vampire."

"Oh now you believe me."

"OKAY! Let's just, agree to hold off from trying to kill each other and solve the case, agreed?" Sam looked at his brother, and Dean, despite his instincts, complied, putting his gun away with a huff. Turning to the "Vampire" and "Slayer", he awaited an answer, and thankfully, they nodded. "I'm Sam, this is my brother, Dean." He ignored his brother's grunt.

"Angel." Dean snorted at the name, but the Champion ignored it to gesture to his ex. "This is Buffy."

The brothers were quiet, only staring at Buffy at first, causing the young woman to look at them strangely. They were tense, biting the inside of their cheeks, before they finally gave in and let out snickers, while it turned to full-blown laughter in Dean's case.

Buffy's face was a stone, but Angel turned away and bit his tongue to hide his own amusem*nt.

After a few moments, the Winchesters calmed down as Dean walked forth. "Anyways, we're gonna investigate the mummy murder there."

"I can help with that", Angel offered.

"Offer's appreciated but we're disguised as agents, you two are not", Sam pointed out as they walked off. "Wait here, we'll come back to talk with you."

Earth-1, Camp Crystal Lake

Friday the 13th theme plays

A teenager was sleeping in a sleeping bag, unaware that all of her friends had been slaughtered already, and now it was just her, all alone.

Ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma

A giant, hulking man, wearing a hockey mask appeared. He wore a rotten and tattered brown jacket made of burlap, a grey sweatshirt and a navy blue undershirt. Along with black platform boots with laces, black leather gloves, dark brown pants all having visible tatters and rips. He'd dark grey skin and strands of grey hair on the side of his head.

He grabbed the bag, and then started dragging it away, making the girl inside awaken as she started squirming, but it was of no use.

Jason Voorhees lifted up the bag with the teenager inside, and slammed it on a tree five whole times, breaking all her bones before throwing the bag down, the girl's bleeding and broken body falling out of it.

Ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma

"Jason."

Jason looked around in confusion, wondering where the voice was coming from.

"You can't see me Jason, but I'm there. I'm here to help you."

Jason tilted his head, as if in consideration.

"Many years ago, a teenage boy escaped your grasp. Someone by the name of Rene Ramirez. Let me show you."

Years ago

A teenage Rene Ramirez was running from the giant and hulking man in the hockey mask, who carried a long machete with him.

He'd just come here to have some fun alongside two friends of his as they were graduating high school. This wasn't supposed to happen!

Now his friends were dead, brutally murdered, and he was running for his life.

At that moment, Jason Voorhees suddenly appeared in front of Rene, raising his machete to kill him, as Rene fell down in horror.

Jason was about to bring the machete down on him, when a voice was heard. "Freeze!"

The masked killer turned to see a cop aiming his gun at him. "Put the machete down, and come with me."

Jason tilted his head, then hurled the machete at the cop as it spun. The cop fired at Jason in horror but he was unaffected, while the spinning machete chopped off his head, making it fall to the ground, as the rest of his body soon followed.

Walking to his bloodstained machete, Jason picked it up, then turned around, only to see Rene was gone!

Now

"By escaping, he disrespected your mother, for whom you're doing all this."

Hearing that, Jason got very angry, because the voice was right! How dare this Rene Ramirez disrespect his mother by escaping his wrath and vengeance that he was carrying out in her name?

"I know where Rene is."

Jason tilted his head, seeming to consider.

"He is in Keystone City, Jason. Go there, kill all in your path, and kill him too. You shall be granted more power with your attempts too, Jason. You took a boat to Manhattan once. Take a boat to Keystone City now."

Jason was convinced, and so, he walked forth, to find a boat he could use to get to Keystone City and kill Rene.

Earth-21, Metropolis

Lex smirked as he walked back into his warehouse from before. It seemed like his machine had worked, though Clark and Bart had found a way back. Now, it was time to fix it, and see what lay beyond.

"Time to see some new sights."

Chapter 9: The Waller Job

Chapter Text

Earth-205

Angel and Buffy waited in the alley, and after a while, they saw Sam come back to them alone.

"Where's Dean?" Buffy inquired.

"He'd a date", Sam revealed. "Regarding the mummy, it wasn't a legit sarcophagus, it was from a prop house in Philly, with a small bucket of dry ice inside."

"So, did the mummy make his own special effects?" Angel asked.

"That's what I'd said", Sam said. "So, you're a detective of some kind?"

"Yep, private detective of the supernatural", Angel told him. "Angel Investigations is the name of the business."

"Cool", Sam had to say.

"Ummm, guys?" Buffy called out.

"What?" The two said at the same time, turning to her, a bit annoyed.

"Nothing", she said on seeing their faces.

"So, we got a Vampire, a werewolf and a mummy, all of them like the movies", Angel noted. "What could it be?"

"Is this town some kind of Hellmouth where people's fantasies could come true or what?" Buffy wondered now.

"What's a Hellmouth?" Sam inquired.

"Not important", Angel told him. "Anyways, you guys got a place or something? We could talk more about this there."

"Sure thing", Sam said as they began to walk off, when Sam got a call.

"Yeah, Dean?" He said into the phone, before sighing. "We're coming."

He cut the call as Buffy asked. "What happened?"

"Dean's date was attacked by our creature", Sam told them. "He fought it off though. Let's go there."

Sam walked off, the two walking after him.

A while later, the three came into the bar as Sam asked Dean and Jamie. "Hey. You guys all right?"

"Yeah, I think so", Dean told them. "And I think I know what's going on." Dean put a folded towel on the table.

"Yeah?"

"Part of it, at least."

Sam opened the towel. Dracula's ear was inside.

"Uh, the ear part?" Sam asked him.

"Ripped it off of Dracula's head", Dean revealed. "Touch it."

"Eww", Buffy muttered. "This reminds me, I got some of the werewolf's hair."

"Show us", Dean said, as Buffy took the hair out with a wince, putting them next to the ear.

Sam touched both. "Ugh."

"Feel familiar to you?" Dean inquired.

"Oh, man", Sam groaned.

"Skin of a shapeshifter", Dean revealed. "Just like St. Louis and just like Milwaukee. Of course this one's all holding buckets of crazy. Oh, and, uh..." Dean took out a medallion from his pocket and gave it to Sam. "This, I uh, pulled it off during the fight. Look at the label on the ribbon."

Sam looked at the label. It read, "THE FX SHOP PROPHOUSE PHILADELPHIA, PA." "It's a costume rental."

"All three monsters - the Dracula, Wolf Man, and the mummy - all the same critter, which means we need to catch this freak before he Creature From the Black Lagoons somebody", Dean said to Sam.

"Wait, what exactly are shapeshifters?" Angel inquired.

"They are monsters that can take any human's form at will, including fictional ones I guess", Sam told them.

"We've seen some shapeshifting, but not to this level", Buffy had to say.

Jamie asked. "So, you guys are like Mulder and Scully or something, and The X-Files are real?"

Dean shook his head. "No, The X-Files is a TV show. This is real."

"As much as we wish it wasn't", Angel added.

"Oh."

Sam noted. "Okay, so, the stagecraft, the costuming… it's like he's trying to re-enact his favorite monster movie moments, right down to the bloody murders."

Jamie suddenly asked. "Wait a second. Who the hell is Mina?"

"Mina?" Angel and Sam went together, then shared a look.

"Yeah", Dean revealed. "That's what he called Jamie. And he called me Mr. Harker."

"Jonathan Harker?" Sam noted. "They're characters from the movies and the novels - Mina, Dracula's intended bride, Harker the fiancé that stands in the way. Seems like he's fixating on you, like he sees you as his bride."

"Wow. Lucky me", Jamie realized.

"Oh no, not this Dracula crap again", Buffy groaned, making Dean and Sam look at her.

"I met the real one last year, we almost ended up re-enacting his book's plot, but I beat him", Buffy explained to the brothers. "Not the most pleasant experience, even if meeting Dracula was…something else."

Angel groaned and ranted. "I'm much more interesting than some brooding, goth punk princess." On getting looks from the rest, he said. "The guy's a shill and sellout. He shouldn't be the Vampire everyone looks up to!"

"Jamie", Sam brought the attention back to the important stuff. "If the shifter is fixated on you, my guess is that he has to have seen you before or been around you."

Dean inquired. "Jamie, has anybody strange come to town", he gestured to Angel and Buffy, "not them", they had a weird look of 'seriously, dude?' as he continued, "somebody that has taken a specific notice of you?"

"I don't know, Dean. It's Oktoberfest. I'm a bartender. There's lots of people. I... wait a second. There is Ed", Jamie realized.

""Ed Brewer" Ed?" Sam asked.

"Yeah", Jamie nodded. "He moved here about a month ago. Lucy swears he has a crush on me. He comes in almost every night. But, you know, I don't think he's the type of guy-"

"Where does Ed live?" Dean simply asked.

"I don't know", Jamie confessed. "But he works at the old movie theater. I think he's the projectionist there."

"Take care of Mina?" Sam asked Dean.

"Yep."

"I'll stay too if he comes", Buffy added. "I mean, I know the plot well due to….reasons."

"Sure, I'll go with Sam", Angel said awkwardly, as he and Sam left, leaving Buffy and Dean behind with Jamie.

Earth-1, Star City

Eliot was bandaged, and hooked on an IV, lying down, with Oliver having applied Lian Yu herbs on the man's body to help him recover faster.

"They really did a number on him", Sara noted from a distance, disgust in her voice. "And I've seen plenty bad."

"I know", Oliver said, as Parker and Hardison were on either side of Eliot.

Eliot then managed to speak. "They wanted...to know about us. Our world...governments...enhanced...I didn't tell them jack sh*t."

"We know you didn't, brother. Just take it easy leave the rest to us", Hardison said, making Eliot's eyes widen a bit.

"...That knowledge doesn't exactly comfort me."

Hardison deadpanned the bedridden hitter. "Oh, so now you can speak in complete sentences."

Eliot smirked, but Hardison laughed with him, before Eliot closed his eyes to rest.

"I want to hurt 'em." Hardison says to everyone after walking to them.

"The feeling is mutual", Parker agreed.

"You might want to slow down. You just took down a squad of ARGUS goons, they'll expect retaliation", Diggle pointed out.

"No, not this time", Ethan said as he stood with Eliot's teammates. "If this is allowed to continue, taking these "interlopers" and doing to them what they did to Eliot, or worse, it needs to stop."

"But mostly revenge", Sara noted.

"Yeah, that too."

"Well, I'd do the same if it was someone I loved", Sara shrugged while glancing at Oliver for a brief second.

"I think you all should think this through though", Thea pointed out. "This will be dangerous."

"What would you do if it was Oliver on that bed?" No one could answer, but Ethan knew what that meant. "I figured as much. We're doing this, with or without your help."

"Look, man, I know ARGUS, and I know the horror stories around Waller, because my wife used to work for her, and I've been made to work for her a few times too. Trying to get back at her will be impossible", Diggle warned.

"Well," Ethan looked at the extremely motivated and concerned Parker and Hardison, "impossible is what we do best."

He looked at Team Arrow then. "You can help us, or get out of our way."

"Do you know who you are going up against? Amanda Waller is the most dangerous woman in the government. She has no empathy, only a twisted sense of patriotism where she sees people as things that she can use for her own benefit, exploiting any weakness she can find, even someone's family. Without blinking, she would kill her closest friend to prove a point that she can't be broken. And you want to take her down?" The undeterred faces told him everything, then Oliver almost smiled. "Then there's no way you're doing this without me. Waller and I, we have history, anything I can do to help, you have it."

Earth-205

Buffy listened from a corner as Dean told Jamie about his near-death experience. Hearing that, she related a bit. "I had one of those too a while ago. It was…bad."

"Sorry to hear that", Dean said, then told Jamie. "But when I came to…things were different. My life's been different. I realize that I help people. Not just help them, though. I save them. I guess it's - it's awesome. It's kind of like a gift... like a mission. Kind of like a... a mission from God."

"You really think that?" Buffy asked him in shock, not believing this was how someone would react to something like that.

"I do", Dean said. "Its made me re-evaluate everything, and now I know what matters."

"Right", Buffy said, turning away.

Jamie asked Dean. "So, does the mission from God make you like a monk or something? You know, celibate?"

"I hope not", Dean said, as he and Jamie began to kiss, Buffy deciding it was better to go off and follow Angel and Sam instead of acting like a third wheel here.

So getting up, she walked out, heading towards the theatre. She'd soon wish she'd stayed.

Earth-1, Star City

Lyla Michaels looked at Eliot's condition, then at Diggle and Oliver, the former saying. "I know you've worked for her, but with what she has done, and will do to innocents, you know its gonna get really bad, Lyla."

She couldn't deny his point, Oliver adding. "You're a good person. I know you can't be comfortable with any of this. So, if there's anything important you can tell us about Waller, now is the time."

After a few moments, where Lyla looked to be in turmoil, she finally said. "I can tell you all about where the important stuff is. How you get it, that'll be up to you."

"For us, that works perfectly", Parker said with a smirk.

Later

After Lyla had told them everything- Oliver, Hunt, Parker and Hardison sat together, brainstorming their strategy.

"So, what do you say?" Hardison asked as he looked at Parker.

"While Nate made me the Mastermind when he left", Parker started. "This is Oliver's world, and he knows Waller best. So for this Job, I know what roles we'll have."

She gestured to herself. "Thief." She looked at Hardison.

"Hacker", he realized.

Then she turned to Hunt.

"Spy", Hunt spoke his role.

And finally, she looked at Oliver, giving him a firm nod, that he returned.

"Mastermind."

And then she said. "Let's go steal a lot of files."

Earth-205

Angel and Sam were on their way to the movie theatre, as Angel asked. "So, you two are hunters, huh?"

"Yeah", Sam told him.

"If its too personal, don't answer", Angel assured. "But, been like that your whole life?"

Sam thought about it, then spoke. "Our mom, she was killed by a Demon when I was a baby. Dad, he couldn't cope with it, he had to find answers, and he did, and he became a hunter, made Dean and I hunters too."

"That's not right", Angel noted, having an issue with children being brought into this world.

"For a long time, I was angry at him for everything", Sam said. "Part of me still is, but then, he gave up his life to save Dean. So, we had our issues but…he was my father."

Sam wiped his eye, Angel noting. "Fathers. Always so complicated."

"You had issues with your old man too?" Sam inquired.

Angel shrugged. "He was a merchant, dealt with fabrics, silks and linens mostly. I was his disappointment ever since I was eight years old. Nothing I ever did was good enough. At one point, I figured, if I was never good enough, then I should stop trying. You think you kids act out these days? Back then, I'd spend my days and nights drinking, whoring, and brawling. In fact, it was because of how I acted, that I caught the eye of a Vampire...and she turned me." Angel's eyes were lost in the memory of that day, centuries ago, when his life ended, and Angelus was born. "It got worse from there."

"How bad?"

"Rather not talk about it, but it was really bad. I was really bad. Until I pissed off a gypsy clan by killing their favorite daughter, and they returned my soul to punish me."

"Damn!" Sam whispered, realizing how bad it would be. Apparently this guy did not have a soul when he was a Vampire and did bad things remorselessly, but on getting it back…it would have been too much.

"Guess we should change topics now", Angel said.

"Yeah, most likely", Sam shrugged. "So, I guess you're from another world then?"

"Really?" Angel inquired. "We fell here through some blue portal thing that looked like a wormhole I'd seen months ago. So, this is another world?"

"Most likely", Sam told him. "Since you're a different kind of Vampire, being soulless beings, and you being given yours makes you different. Plus your Vamps have the standard weaknesses, which are just myths here. We have faced creatures recently whom we haven't seen or read about anywhere. Or at least they aren't how they're described. Like, a berserk undead warrior. It was a pain to put down."

"I can imagine", Angel said.

"And some gnarly looking disgusting creatures with crude weapons", Sam told Angel.

"Must be hard", Angel noted.

"Yeah, not to mention, we're not getting any answers about this either", Sam said. "But anyways, we have sensors to detect ghosts. With the help of a psychic I know, I modified it to detect anything from the wormhole. So after this is done, I'll scan you with it, then we could try to find which breach to send you back through."

"That'd be much appreciated", Angel said with a smile. "You're really smart, I must say."

"Thanks", Sam nodded gratefully. "I like tech."

"Ever made a grapple gun?" Angel asked now.

"I thought about it", Sam said. "In case we needed it to get out of certain situations. But we were never able to find the right type of wire to hold our weight, and the pully system usually failed."

"I used monofilament wire, for the pully, well, what if you kept something on you conceal the gun, like a gauntlet or something, and have a motorized reel system for a quicker ascent?"

"That...that could actually work. You're a genius." Angel waved off the praise, but it was nice to hear, especially considering Cordelia's constant teasing of his lack of skill with all things technology. Could she make wrist-activated stake bracers? Angel didn't think so.

By now, they were in front of the movie theatre, where 'Phantom of the Opera' was showing, the organ music playing as Angel groaned. "I hate this music."

"Too Dracula?" Sam asked.

"Yes!"

Sam checked the clip in his gun then walked towards a shadow of a man playing an organ, Angel behind him.

Ed Brewer switched the music to something happy. Brewer turned around in surprise. "Whoa!"

Sam pushes him against the organ and held him at gun point.

"You, FBI man - What did I –"

"Shut up, okay, you know what you did", Sam snarled.

"What?"

"Play that Dracula music!" Angel growled.

"I know what you are", Sam added.

"I'm not anything. I just like to play the Casio."

"Had time to grow the ear back, huh?" Sam said.

"What?!"

Sam pulled on Brewer's ear. Brewer screamed in pain.

"It's supposed to come off", he said in confusion.

"No, it's not!"

Sam looked at Angel, bewildered, who said. "We need to get back!"

"Yeah", Sam agreed, as the two rushed away, leaving a confused Ed behind.

As Angel and Sam ran back towards the bar, they saw Buffy coming their way, and Angel asked. "What happened? Why are you here?"

"Things got flirty in there", Buffy sighed. "I didn't want to be the third wheel."

"You shouldn't have left them!" Sam snapped.

"Why?" Buffy asked. "Didn't you two get the shapeshifter?"

"It wasn't him", Angel revealed, to Buffy's horror. "We need to go back."

"Oh no!" Buffy muttered.

The three arrived back at the bar, only to see a shattered bottle, glasses on the table, and no Dean or Jamie.

"Dammit Buffy!" Angel and Sam said at the same time.

"Come on guys", Buffy sighed.

Angel walked to the glasses and sniffed them. "Ketamine."

"Goddamn it!" Sam snapped, then saw a napkin next to the broken bottle with Lucy's lipstick on it. "Lucy."

"Westerna?" Buffy asked.

"No, a waitress who works here", Sam said as he got up. "She is the shapeshifter."

Earth-1, Star City

Amanda Waller was walking in the ARGUS base, an agent passing by her, as she opened a door to a room, only to see various agents lying on the ground, all knocked out.

"Mr. Queen", she said with a smirk, turning around to see Oliver Queen in the Green Arrow suit standing there. "How nice of you to pay a visit. Thought my agents didn't have enough of you tonight?"

"We need to talk", Oliver snarled. "About your new hobby- taking in people from other worlds."

"You seem to have picked that up", Waller sneered. "I know you had help from some more interlopers when you went after my agents. Hand them over to me, or I'll make sure you can't operate the way you have so far!"

"Perhaps", Oliver shrugged, then suddenly aimed an arrow at her. "Or I can shoot you right now, and end you. Sure, it will cause problems for me, but you won't be alive, which I'm sure doesn't sit well with you, because you know where you're headed after that. And I know it scares you."

"What guarantee do you have that I won't be replaced by someone even more….willing to do what it takes?" Waller simply asked in a levelled tone, Oliver lowering his bow.

"That'd be near impossible", Oliver told her. "Considering how you used Maseo's family to make me and him work for you."

"Still bitter about that?" Waller asked. "I am one of those who made you who you are today."

"You did, but that doesn't mean all the people who made me this man are to be appreciated", Oliver snarled at her. Yao Fei, Slade, Shado, Waller, Talia and Anatoly were all responsible for making him who he was now.

But Waller was the one who did not deserve any appreciation at all (there was Slade after the Mirakuru too, but before that, he'd been his brother).

"I have been influencing you even before we met, when you foiled Fyers' plan", Waller told Oliver. "How do you think you'll get along if I'm gone?"

"Your plans have a tendency to blow up in your face", Oliver shrugged. "I'm sure we can all manage better. And this plan is going to blow up too, because you're gonna piss off a lot of people, including from other worlds. You want to start a war?"

"It's a war I'll make sure we win."

"No, you will make sure you'll win. That's not a comforting thought."

"Is that trepidation I hear, Mr. Queen?"

"That's revulsion, I thought you would be better at reading people?"

"Insulting my abilities? Are you really so childish?"

"What does that make you? You see something new and you want it, it's like something a spoilt rich girl would do."

"Someone has to protect this country."

"This someone being you?"

"You have a better alternative?"

"Literally, and I really mean LITERALLY, anyone else."

"Naivety doesn't suit you, Mr. Queen."

"Actually, Waller, that was honesty."

The agent who'd walked past Waller stood in a hallway close to her office, before taking off her 'face', which turned out to be just a mask. It was Parker!

She took out Waller's phone from her pocket, having picked it from the ARGUS Director's pocket while passing by her, and taking out a spray, sprayed it on the phone, revealing Waller's handprint.

Putting the phone back inside, Parker took out a special kind of glove the IMF used, having gotten it from Hunt, and then took out the phone with her other hand again, touching it with the glove, copying Waller's handprint onto it.

Then, walking to Waller's office, Parker held the gloved hand out for the hand scanner.

"Scanning."

Within seconds, it said. "Scan successful. Retinal scanner required."

She tapped her earpiece. "Oliver, look into her eyes carefully."

Oliver heard, as Waller was saying. "I will get this man, as well as the others who took on my agents, and you won't be able to do a thing to stop me, Mr. Queen."

"Oh yeah? Watch me", Oliver snarled, looking at her.

"You know someone with my resources could easily find that protégé of yours, that Mr. Harper."

Oliver clutched his bow tightly in anger, as Waller continued. "No one will think of finding a dead man. He'd make a fine addition to Task Force X."

In a flash of movement, Oliver had Waller by the throat, making her gasp for a second as she looked into his eyes, the archer glaring at her in utter rage and contempt.

"You stay away from him, otherwise nothing will stop me from coming for you", Oliver sneered, having gotten a good look at her eyes, with the IMF eyepiece that he had in his own eyes, which Waller did not notice due to her throat being in his grip, and his anger at her.

He let go, as Waller breathed, holding her throat, Oliver adding. "What you are doing, I am going to stop you."

"Still being naïve?"

"No. Just honest."

Hardison, wearing a mask himself, was on his laptop, having gotten the scan of Waller's eyes as he typed in further. "And now you can do the scan."

Parker, having put her mask back on, put a device in front of the retinal scanner, the device connected to Hardison's laptop, and it produced an accurate copy of Waller's eyeball, which was scanned.

"Scan successful. Welcome Director."

The door to the office opened at last, Parker smirking.

"Don't step inside", Hardison said, walking forth, being joined by another agent, who was Ethan Hunt in a mask. "There are motion sensors inside."

"Can you hack them?" Parker inquired.

"No", Hardison shook his head sadly. "The entire room is on a separate network. I deactivated the cameras, but the sensors and anything else is just untouchable. I saw something underneath her desk with the cameras, but I can't make it out."

"Might be where her files are", Hunt pointed out.

"This office and the R&D section are the two most secure areas in the building", Hardison noted.

During that time, Waller's secretary was passing them.

Hunt nodded at Hardison, then grabbed the secretary in a chokehold from behind, dragging him into a corner as he struggled, but was knocked out, while Hardison typed some codes into the laptop, and they were all erased from the camera's footage, as if they were never there.

"IMF tech rocks", Hardison had to say.

"I agree", Parker raised her hand.

"Well, you use it very well too", Hunt praised Hardison, the two walking further until they reached where Parker was, in front of Waller's office.

"The agents who have to guard this office are knocked out, so we have a time limit, because their absence when they don't check in will be noted", Hunt warned, taking off his mask to reveal his face. "I'm going in now."

"How?" Parker asked, as Hunt took off his suit to reveal tactical gear inside. "You always wear that under your suit?"

"Only on missions", Hunt said with a shrug, before taking the bag Hardison had. "I'm glad I let you two take whatever you wanted."

From the bag, he took out two gloves, of the same variety he had used to climb the Burj Khalifa a few years ago. These were the improved versions.

"I'm going in, you just deal with any agents who pass this way", Hunt told the two, keeping his suit into the bag, before wearing the gloves.

As Parker and Hardison watched, Hunt leapt into Waller's office, using the gloves to stick to the wall, not letting his feet get on the ground.

"Damn! He is really doing it", Hardison said, looking into the room, while Parker folded her arms, as Hardison shut the door, but not fully, to make it look like to passers-by that everything was fine.

"I wanted to do that!" Parker said with a whine.

Hardison looked at his laptop he was holding, typing through it to see through the cameras, including Ethan's climbing on the wall, while also making sure his presence was erased in any other security monitors in the building.

Hunt continued to climb, remembering Benji's 'blue is glue' and 'red is dead', so he made sure he stuck his hand when it was blue, and quickly pulled it back when it got red while putting the other hand to stick.

While he wouldn't die this time, the motion sensors were a thing.

At one point, he almost slipped, but managed to barely keep hanging.

"Damn!" Hardison said in fear, while Parker gasped too, as an agent passed by and looked at them weirdly.

"Nothing, just watching the match", Hardison said, changing the window to show that, and the agent shrugged before walking off.

"How far are you?" Parker then asked Hunt.

"More than halfway through", Hunt said, now hanging on the blackened window that prevented anyone from seeing inside, before he climbed a bit further, not taking his eyes off the desk.

Parker and Hardison watched in the latter's laptop.

And then, Hunt leapt.

Parker's and Hardison's hearts nearly leapt out of their mouths.

Hunt's hands ended up grabbing the table, as his feet almost touched the ground, but he lifted them up, using his hands and feet both to hold onto the table, panting now.

Parker and Hardison sighed in relief, the latter saying. "Man, you scared us."

Hunt climbed onto the table, then peaked down with his head, noticing a safe. "She is smart. She doesn't have digital copies of her 'off-the-books' projects. She made hard copies, and kept them inside."

"I think I could crack that, I should have gone inside", Parker said again.

"There's a device here", Hunt noted with narrowed eyes. "It recognizes a voice."

"And how much do you wanna bet its Waller's voice that opens it?" Hardison groaned, then tapped his earpiece. "Oliver, the voice recorder, we're gonna need it."

Oliver had the device in his hand already, having a feeling it would be needed.

"You really think you can control everything?" Oliver asked Waller with a smirk. "There are forces, both in this world and others, beyond your control. You are nothing but an ant in comparison, Waller."

And then he pressed the device, switching it on.

"An ant survives not because its strong, but because of its cleverness and resourcefulness", Waller pointed out. "You'd do well to remember that."

Hardison had gotten the voice of Waller, and typed into his laptop, before telling Hunt. "Use that speaker device."

"Sure thing", Hunt said, then activated the voice scanner.

"Voice scan required."

Hunt then activated the speaker. "An ant survives not because its strong, but because of its cleverness and resourcefulness. You'd do well to remember that."

After a few seconds, the device beeped green. "Welcome, Director."

And then, the safe opened, Hunt smirking as he saw various files inside, and put his hand in.

"You know Waller, I like to think of myself as an ant too", Oliver said, making the Director tilt her head as she looked at him. "There are things in this world beyond me, like meta-humans and magic. I'm nothing in comparison in terms of power. You know what I have? My wits and my resources."

Hunt took the files out of the safe, and at that moment, an alarm went off, because the safe was rigged with a weight sensor.

"Damn it!" Hunt cried out as he looked at the window. "Parker, Hardison, get here quickly!"

"What?" Waller muttered, the alarm ringing out, then glared at Oliver. "You…"

"And as you can see, I've more of both than you", Oliver told her with a smirk, as she took out her gun, only for Oliver to fire an arrow, disarming her of it. "You're done, Waller."

"My agents will catch your friends", she sneered.

Many ARGUS Agents kicked the door to Waller's office open, and saw Hunt, Parker and Hardison standing in front of the window, the files in Hunt's hands.

"Put your hands behind your back, get down on your knees", one agent said, all of them aiming their guns at the three.

They did as told, getting down on their knees slowly.

"Hand over the files", the lead agent then demanded.

To their confusion, the three smirked, when one agent noticed something stuck on the window. "Is that…a chewing gum?"

"Red light", Hunt said, confusing the agents. "Green light!"

And then there was an explosion, causing glass to fly all over, sending the agents flying back, while Hunt, Parker and Hardison had ducked to avoid it.

"Come on!" Hunt then said, running out, as the other two ran with him, Parker throwing Waller's phone back inside, and the three leapt off the windows, before Hunt and Parker threw a grapple hook each, getting another building, while Hardison grabbed Parker, and the three swung away.

The agents got up, and rushed to the shattered window, looking everywhere, only to find no one. The three had disappeared without a trace.

"Damn it!" The agent said.

Leverage The Team Soundtrack plays

"Everything off the books you've done, its with me now", Oliver said, Waller fuming in rage. "Now, you're gonna stay back, and let me deal with any interlopers in my way. Are we clear?"

"Crystal", Waller said with a sneer.

Walking up to her, Oliver taunted. "Not so fun being on the other side, is it?"

And then, Oliver punched Waller out.

Universe-208, Tatooine

Blade was meditating on top of the rock formation. The other Mandalorians were giving him space after his duel with Rix Awaud.

It earned him respect among the warrior culture, but it did not endear him to any. He was meditating, trying to dull his senses and not focus on the beating hearts of the blood flowing within the bodies surrounding him. It'd been days since he fell through that damn hole and days since that damn bullet f*cked up his insides.

Blade wasn't religious, he never believed in God, hence the crosses never worked for him on hunts, but it'd been a miracle he hadn't given in to the thirst. For all his skills, the Daywalker recognized his weaknesses, the one that he would never escape was the unending desire for blood, and right now, he was reaching his limit.

His internal struggles were halted by the sound of humming. Golden-tinted eyes opened to gaze upon two dark streaks in the distance, racing toward the camp. Blade grunted, he recognized the armor of one of them even from this far, yet it was the body draped across the hover-bike, or "speeder" as he heard them call it, that had his attention.

Given it was moving, it was unlikely any bounty. Most of the Mandalorians that went out for bounty work come back with no bodies, or the remains of them.

Daywalker or not, Blade did not wish to discover what the Kryze woman meant when warning against any more "disintegrations".

The speeders blurred by his position and entered the camp as the armor clad warriors went about their business or watched as the tall Mando removed his helmet and threw the body into the sand.

Knowing his meditation would only be continued to be interrupted, Blade stood from the lotus position, and tuned his attention to the newcomer to the camp.

It did not look good.

Earth-205

Buffy broke the lock of the house, entering with Sam, who'd drawn his gun, Angel taking a tentative step over the threshold, and on seeing he wasn't pushed back, he entered fully.

"What was that about?" Sam asked Angel.

"Vampires need to be invited into someone's home where I'm from", Angel said. "Guess this guy being a shapeshifter negated that."

"Can you find Dean and Jamie?" Buffy asked Angel.

"Yeah, I have their scent", Angel said, getting to the front. "Follow me."

They walked around a bit, eventually going down into what was a dungeon, and they entered, seeing Dean trapped in a metal contraption while wearing lederhosen.

"Oh, thank God. Just in the nick of time. That guy was about to Frankenstein me", Dean said, as Angel broke the contraption, freeing Dean, who sighed.

"Lederhosen, seriously?" Buffy chuckled.

"Shut up!" Dean said, before gesturing to the door. Buffy kicked it so hard it shattered into pieces, and she'd to avoid falling due to not having expected that.

"Let's go", Angel said, the four walking forth, Dean looking at the dungeon one last time.

"You can reminiscence later", Angel said, making him groan before they continued, with Sam opening a door to the bedroom as he saw Jamie lying on the bed in a white gown. Dracula intercepted him from behind and threw him through the wall, his gun dropping.

"You will never be Van Helsing!"

He turned around, only to be decked by Angel, which sent him flying off and falling to the ground, groaning in pain.

"I always hated Dracula." He kicked the shapeshifter, making him roll away in pain again. "Everything is so dramatic with that guy. Not even Bram Stoker bought into any of his crap. The guy was hypnotized! And what does he get? A whole fricking franchise. I should be the one with the movies!"

"Wow!" Buffy said, making Angel turn to her. "You and Spike agree on something."

"Spike hates Dracula?"

At her nod, Angel growled and stomped his foot in frustration. "That bleached haired bastard! He always has to copy me!"

Sam and Buffy looked at each, the former mouthing "wow" while the latter just nodded tiredly.

As Dracula got up, Angel snarled. "Wanna meet a real Vampire?" He vamped out, and the shapeshifter stumbled back in terror.

"This is not supposed to be in the mov-"

Buffy did a cartwheel and struck him on the face, sending him flying off again. "If you talk about the black and white monster movies again, I'll beat you until you become the Creature from the Black Lagoon. That one didn't talk."

The shapeshifter staggered up, only for shots to ring out, while there were holes in his chest.

"Silver?" Dracula turned to see Jamie holding Sam's gun. "It was beauty that killed the beast. No, Mina, do not weep." Jamie just looked at him in confusion as Dracula fell into a chair. "Perhaps this is how the movie should end." Dracula died in the chair.

"Yeah, now stay quiet you attention seeker!" Angel ranted, getting weird looks again.

A while later, the four were outside, as Dean asked Angel and Buffy. "So you two are from another world and fell here through one of the blue portals, eh?"

"That's the consensus", Angel said. "Any idea how to send us back?"

"We'll think on it, but", Dean turned to Buffy. "I wanna speak to you for a bit."

"Sure", Buffy said, as Dean led her to a corner. "What's up?"

"When I was talking about my near-death experience before", Dean started. "The way you responded- you actually died, right?"

"….Yeah", Buffy confessed, seeing no point in hiding it. "How'd you figure it out?"

"I died for real too", Dean told her with a shrug. "That's why I re-evaluated everything."

"I wish I could do the same", Buffy said, looking away. "I was dead….and….wherever I was….I was happy. At peace."

Dean stared at her in some sympathy as she continued. "I knew that everyone I cared about was all right. I knew it. Time ... didn't mean anything ... nothing had form ... but I was still me, you know? She glanced at Dean, then glanced away. "And I was warm ... and I was loved ... and I was finished. Complete. I don't understand about theology or dimensions, or ... any of it, really ... but I think I was in Heaven."

Dean stared at her in dismay now. "And now I'm not." She was almost tearful. "I was torn out of there. Pulled out ... by my friends." Dean continued to listen. "Everything here is ... hard, and bright, and violent. Everything I feel, everything I touch ... this is Hell. Just getting through the next moment, and the one after that ..." she muttered softly, "knowing what I've lost..."

As she looked up at Dean, she noticed the sympathy in his eyes was gone, replaced by some hardness.

"Buck up!"

"What?" Buffy asked, not having expected that response.

"That's what I said", Dean shrugged. "So you went to some fancy Heaven and got to put your feet up, whoop-de-do! You know what happened when I died? Hell! Actual Hell! You think this world is Hell? You ain't seen anything yet! Here, it was just 4 months, but in there…it was a lot longer, and I was there all this time."

Buffy stared at him in horror and shock as he continued. "What, you just gonna cry like some little bitch baby for the rest of your life? I'm sure that would make everything your friends went through worth it. You wanna hate something, hate the monsters you kill, but don't even dare think that they're the ones at fault!"

His piece said, Dean walked off, Buffy staring at him in stunned shock. She…she just couldn't believe this was what he had to say.

But then, if he was in Hell, actual Hell, her saying the world was her Hell…yeah, not gonna go over well with him.

Thinking about what he'd said, Buffy rejoined Angel and the brothers, and asked. "So, any suggestions?"

"Well, let me use this first", Sam said, taking out the sensor, only for it to go haywire. "What's going on?"

At that moment, a breach opened up very close to them, and they realized the sensor was reacting to that.

"Now, where does that lead?" Angel inquired.

"I think it leads to your world", Dean said.

"You sure?" Angel asked.

"Maybe we can take a leap of faith I guess", Buffy said, Angel nodding, as he looked at the brothers.

"Nice to meet you guys", he said, sharing a nod with Sam, and a curt one with Dean.

"Likewise, Angel", Sam smiled.

"Would be fun to see ya guys again", Dean added.

"Maybe you two could come over sometime", Buffy joked, as they chuckled, and then Angel and Buffy walked through the breach, which closed.

"You feel like something else is going on?" Sam asked.

"Nope, holes opening up randomly and sucking people in is a normal thing now", Dean shrugged.

Earth-92

A breach opened, as Angel and Buffy walked out of it, back at the spot where they'd talked before.

"So we are back, huh?" Buffy noted.

"Yeah, looks like it", Angel smirked. "So, those sensor things they had, I think we need those too."

"How'd we make it?" Buffy inquired.

"Let's have our teams get together", Angel suggested. "Fred can handle the science part, Willow and Tara can handle the magic parts, and Giles and Wesley would know stuff too."

"Makes sense", Buffy said, as she walked off. "We'll see each other soon then."

"Yep", Angel nodded, walking off towards Los Angeles as well.

Universe-208, Tatooine

Gar Saxon threw down a farmer from his speeder, then getting down, removed his helmet, before ripping off the sack over the farmer's head, revealing an older man with greying hair and fear reflecting in his blue eyes.

"Tell me, farmer, what do you see?" The farmer shook in fear as Saxon loomed over him. "Go on, look!" He ordered the man.

Doing as the Mandalorian bid, the farmer looked, and saw only more of his kind, armed, deadly, watching from behind their "T" shaped visors, or smirking at his predicament.

"What do you see?"

"Ju-just the fearsome warriors of Mandalore, sir." The farmer tried to placate, but it only earned him a kick to the chest, pinning him to the ground.

"Water, old man. There's no water!"

"We had no choice! The harvest was failing, Tuskens and who knows what else were about, I had to fill the orders or else I could lose my farm. I have a family depending on me."

Gar Saxon did not care, instead grabbing the farmer by the front of his clothes, pulling him up until he was kneeling before the Death Watch commando.

"You'll be losing more than just a farm now!"

The grey-haired farmer closed his eyes and awaited the fist rearing back.

Saxon made to throw the punch forward, but something grabbed his hand by the wrist, and he couldn't budge. Turning his head, he glared at the unnerving gold eyes of the outsider staring back at him.

Then a in moment too quick to follow, Blade wrapped his left arm around Saxon's elbow, then bent the wrist in his grip and grabbed it with his other hand, before kicking Saxon's knee, making the would-be abuser kneel.

"Now, that ain't nice", he hissed as the Mandalorian struggled against the iron grip.

But in that moment, so close to the neck, Blade felt the lust nearly take over. He could hear the carotid artery throb against Saxon's skin, the blood rushing through the veins. The thirst had only grown stronger. And he was surrounded by prey.

Blade blinked out of his daze, pulling back to twist and extend Saxon's arm before launching a kick to his chest. He felt the slight pain from striking the Mandalorian armor, but it wasn't enough to stop Saxon's body from being launched over the speeder and some distance, rolling in the sand until he ended up at the feet of Pre Vizla and Bo-Katan Kryze.

Placing himself in front of the farmer, Blade expected Saxon to rise up and charge at him, but even he was surprised when he did rise up, but Vizla grabbed his arm and threw him back. "Enough, Saxon."

"You would side with a farmer and an outsider?!"

"What did you intend to do, beat the water out of him?"

"A reminder would do well to show what happens when you break your word with Death Watch."

"That is MY decision to make, and mine alone. I won't have you sullying our reputation."

"But they-" Saxon could not finish before his leader narrowed his eyes and pushed himself in the taller Mando's face.

"That is all, Saxon." The blonde haired Mandalorian looked between Vizla, then Bo-Katan beside him, and more of Death Watch standing by their leader's decision. Saxon grounded his teeth, then shifted his eyes to the kriffing outsider, watching impassively. With a silent growl, Saxon turned and walked away.

Vizla watched him go, but addressed all gathered. "Gaining a reputation for beating the weak would make us no better than simple pirates. Anyone who dares tarnish the Mandalorians will be dealt with."

His warning heeded by all, he turned his attention to shaking farmer hiding behind their "guest".

"Reeves, take the farmer away. Make sure he's blinded when you leave." Vizla ordered the closest Mandalorian he could see, and watched her approach the man. But the enigmatic savior was gone.

"Blade continues to impress", Bo-Katan praised as she sought out the dark-skinned warrior. First he defeated Rix, now he sent Saxon away with one simple kick as if thrown away by a Jedi's power.

"Yet we are no closer to answers on just what he is", the bald Mandalorian recounted the fight and the current event.

In all honesty, Blade had impressed him, his demeanor, his strength, and restraint. He could use more warriors like him.

"He would make a valuable addition to our cause."

"Blade is not Mandalorian."

"We are not limited by blood."

"And who would perform the gai bal manda? You?" Vizla questioned sarcastically. Age did not limit the adoption ritual, but Blade looked near as old as Pre himself, older than Bo-Katan for sure.

"Hey, you're the one who let him stay", the sister of the duch*ess shrugged her shoulders, before following the wielder of the Darksaber to the command tent.

They had plans to make.

Earth-1, Star City

Oliver looked through the files, his blood boiling at what Waller was up to, as Parker cheered. "Now that was fun."

"Agreed on that", Oliver said with a smirk, turning around to face them. "Most fun I had since…well, ever really."

"Well, there was our relationship", Sara reminded Oliver.

"Yeah, and it feels like a long time ago now", Oliver said, looking like he was lost in that time, Sara too briefly.

"It does", she said with a nod.

"So, what are you gonna do with all this?" Felicity asked Oliver.

"Keep Waller away from interlopers, and also stop her from crossing anymore lines", Oliver told Felicity. "Though she'd try to get back at us in some way, I know it."

"Wouldn't put it past her", Diggle agreed.

"What do we do then?" Laurel asked no one in particular.

"For now, nothing", Oliver said, folding up the files as he kept them inside. "I'll keep these with me. Waller can't get her hands on these ever again."

"Let's make sure it stays that way", Thea added.

Leverage Main Title Soundtrack plays

"Still, lots of fun there", Hardison quipped, while looking at Hunt. "Very tense too."

"Done a lot worse before", Hunt said with a shrug.

"Oh! And nice job, team", Parker said, then looked at Oliver. "You too, Mastermind."

"Likewise, Thief", Oliver smiled at her, then looked at Hardison and Hunt. "Hacker. Spy."

While they knew bad things would happen again, for now, they enjoyed this victory.

In the R&D department of her ARGUS base, Waller fumed as she looked at a compartment with a cranial chip implant inside it.

This chip had the fighting styles of some of the world's best fighters stored inside of it, and if implanted into anyone, the person would gain all those fighting styles, and it could download any other fighting style the person witnessed as well.

Oliver, his team, and the interlopers were going to pay for what they had done. She always won.

Suddenly, Waller felt something. A gut feeling.

Turning around, Waller drew two guns, only for two arrows to disarm her, before another one struck her knee, making her gasp in pain as she went down, a hooded woman walking out of the shadows, carrying a bow and a quiver with arrows.

Waller started. "You have no idea what-"

"I do actually", the woman said in a middle-eastern accent. "Your contingencies have already been disabled."

She noted Waller's hand trying to reach for another gun, and fired another arrow, nailing it to the leg of the desk nearby, Waller grunting in pain.

Then, she fired an arrow at the other hand, nailing it to the wall, as the Wall herself looked at her in defiance, only to get another in the gut, blood pouring out of her mouth now, but she didn't back down still.

"Such fire inside of you. Pity we are not on the same side", the woman said, and then fired again.

The arrow struck Waller's throat, as her face scrunched into one of pain, blood pouring out of her throat, as well as her mouth, the life leaving her eyes at last.

Amanda Waller was dead!

Talia al Ghul smirked underneath her hood, lowering her bow, before walking to where the cranial chip implant was, picking it up.

"This is just what we need."

Chapter 10: Some confrontations

Chapter Text

Earth-84

Son Goku stood in horror while holding the 'Sleeping Princess' jewel in his hand, Good Launch lying behind him in confusion.

Count Lucifer was standing in front of them, his army of Demons behind him.

But what was really concerning was the fact that he had Krillin held up by one arm, the young monk struggling against the Devil.

The two had been sent by Master Roshi, whom they wanted to train under, to find the legendary and beautiful 'Sleeping Princess', and bring her to him, after which he'd train whoever brought her to him.

But, eventually, after entering this castle, they'd found out the 'Sleeping Princess' was not a woman, but a jewel instead, that this Count Lucifer planned to use for nefarious purposes.

"Give me the Sleeping Princess back or I'll rip his head off", Count Lucifer said with a smirk. Goku looked between it and him in hesitation, before he asked. "Well?" He pressed Krillin's throat tighter, the boy smacking his arm to no effect.

Good Launch gasped in horror.

"I really hate it when people use my name."

Everyone turned to see a tall, handsome man in a suit, wearing a very charming smile on his face. If Bulma Briefs was in the room, she'd be head over heels for this man already.

Count Lucifer looked and sounded charming yes, but this man seemed to have perfected the art of charm.

"Who are you?" Count Lucifer snarled.

"I am Lucifer bloody Morningstar, and I could hear you using my name all the way to the other side of the breach, it really brassed me off", Morningstar said, confusing Count Lucifer and the rest, when suddenly a pair of white wings sprouted from Morningstar's back, to the awe of everyone.

"Are those…?" Goku pointed at the wings.

Then, Morningstar was suddenly right in front of Count Lucifer, and he whacked the Count's hand, making him drop Krillin, who started coughing, while Count Lucifer glared in anger.

"I'm going to kill you", Count Lucifer snarled as he flew back by a bit, then aiming his right hand, started firing red rapid fire ki blasts.

Morningstar suddenly disappeared from his sight again, then appeared above him, kicking him right on the face a he was thrown back, bleeding from the nose.

"You…." Count Lucifer roared, then fired ki blasts with both hands, which Lucifer Morningstar managed to avoid by disappearing once more, and now he was behind Count Lucifer, kicking him hard in the back and sending him flying forth, falling on his face.

The other Demons started marching towards him, only for him to karate chop one out, before kicking another away by many feet.

As they watched, his wings disappeared, and he smirked at them while his eyes went red and his face turned deformed, looking scarier than any of them did.

Seeing that, they all fell to their knees in terror, while the satisfied Morningstar turned to see Count Lucifer trying to pick himself up.

His face becoming normal, he sprouted his wings once more, while Count Lucifer turned around with an angry grunt.

"Now you shall die, and then I'll fulfill my plan", Count Lucifer declared, preparing a giant red energy ball attack to hurl at Morningstar.

As soon as he was prepared to throw it, Morningstar used his speed to appear right in front of him while turning his hand the other way, and the blast hit his own Demons instead, destroying them now.

"NOOO!" Count Lucifer cried out, only for Lucifer to grab him by the throat and throw him down, before pinning him down with his foot, while he continued to whine. "You can't do this to me! I have been trying to fulfil this plan for years! NOOO!"

"Umm, who are you mister?" Goku asked Morningstar.

"Lucifer Morningstar at your service", Morningstar said with a bow. "And like I said, I am the real one. Now, what is it you desire?"

As if in a trance, Goku replied to Morningstar. "I want to wish for the world's biggest meal ever."

"Seriously? That's it?" Krillin asked in shock.

"I like food, Krillin", Goku told him, as they saw Lucifer take out some weird cube that he started turning.

"Now, now, I won't deal with you personally, but you'll wish I had", Morningstar told the whining Count Lucifer, as the place seemed to shake, and a tall being in some sort of black leather fetish suit and pins all over his head appeared.

"WHAT?" Count Lucifer cried out in horror as Morningstar stepped off of him.

"Lucifer", the being greeted him.

"Pinhead", Morningstar greeted him back.

"Why have I been summoned by you?" Pinhead inquired, getting straight to business.

"This sod is ruining my name, like many others, his whining could be heard across breaches, deal with him please!" Morningstar simply said.

Pinhead looked at the terrified Count Lucifer and said. "We have such sights to show you."

He looked at Goku, Krillin and Good Launch. "This isn't for your eyes."

Then, a hooked chain pierced Count Lucifer's right hand as he yelled in pain, before another pierced his back, then another pierced his left hand, followed by his legs being pierced, and then the entirety of his body was pierced by hooked chains as he hung, screaming in agony.

"THIS…CAN'T….BE!"

And then, the chains ripped him apart, his blood splattering, Goku and Krillin watching in horror while Good Launch started crying.

Goku was more disgusted by the pins than the brutal death though, and asked Pinhead. "Sir, why do you have pins stuck to your head?"

Pinhead looked at him neutrally, then shared a nod with Lucifer before disappearing, as Lucifer said. "Now my work is done as well."

With that, he was gone too, as Krillin then asked. "What just happened?"

Hell

Lucifer Morningstar was back in Hell and was about to sit on his throne, when he heard another breach being crossed before someone cried out behind him. "ARE YOU LUCIFER?"

He turned around to see someone in Crusader armor and helmet, a tapestry in the shape of a cross sewn to his body with various events depicted inside it, while he carried a scythe.

"That'd be me", Lucifer shrugged.

"FOR BEATRICE!" The Crusader cried out, trying to charge Lucifer, when his wings appeared and he was then behind the Crusader instead.

"Ah, another Dante Alighieri! You're the third in this week", Lucifer groaned, making Dante Alighieri turn to him. "For the last time, I am not the Lucifer who took your Beatrice."

"What?" Dante Alighieri asked in confusion, when Morningstar grabbed him by the back of the neck and aimed him at a breach.

"Please kill the one who took Beatrice as brutally as you can for me", Morningstar said, then hurled the screaming Dante Alighieri back through the breach he'd stepped from, sending him back to whichever Hell Dimension he had been in before, to continue his quest.

"Bloody this place!" Lucifer said before sitting down on his throne, before hearing a flutter.

He looked up to see his brother Amenadiel standing before him.

"Hello brother", Lucifer greeted, Amenadiel nodding.

"These breaches are getting worse, are they not, brother?" Amenadiel asked.

"Like you have no idea", Lucifer said with another groan. "I had Pinhead deal with another loser using my name. And the third Dante Alighieri just popped up a few seconds before you came."

"All of these crossings…they are quite concerning", Amenadiel noted grimly.

"I know", Lucifer agreed. "Detective and the rest are not facing anything like this though, are they?"

"Not so far", Amenadiel assured as Lucifer sighed in relief.

"Good, that's good."

Earth-199999, Bowie, Arizona

John Rambo hid up in the tree, his arrow aimed downwards, the former Green Beret not moving even once.

There was a creature in this place that had not been seen before. It was hunting people, killing them, and even harvesting their organs or something.

So Rambo had decided it was time to take on it.

After a whole lot of hunting, Rambo had found the creature, which seemed to be some kind of Monster wearing a tattered, 19th-century duster, a wide-brimmed Stetson hat, and tattered trousers to pass for human, as well as a red sweater, while having bird-like talons. Its skin was dark green and scaly, and it also had razor sharp teeth and claws.

Overcoming his shock, Rambo had fired at it with his gun, but it had been unaffected, or deflected with its ax, and attacked him, while also using a throwing star to disarm him of his gun, making it fall down. With his gun gone, Rambo had managed to fight back using his knife against the creature's ax, though it had sliced him up at a few points, and even given him a limp, as well as a bad black eye, but Rambo had distracted it by a flare to the face, and retreated.

Now, he had torn a piece of his bloodied clothing, and thrown it down, while he lay in wait.

Eventually, the creature finally appeared, having tracked him via scent. And at that moment, Rambo released the arrow.

The creature looked up as the arrow struck it in the throat, and it growled, while about to throw the ax at Rambo, only to feel something as its eyes widened.

Rambo smirked. The creature had finally encountered someone who didn't just not fear it, but was also better at hunting than itself.

The creature tried to pull the arrow out, only for it to explode, blowing the creature into bits as well.

"Mission accomplished", Rambo simply muttered.

Later

Rambo was back at his horse ranch, limping, when he saw Phil Coulson and Melinda May waiting for him.

"To what do I owe this visit?" Rambo simply inquired, not knowing who they were, or caring for the matter.

"We have heard about sightings of a strange predatory creature in the area", Coulson told Rambo.

"Too late, its gone now", Rambo shrugged as he limped past the two, as they shared a look.

"Considering who he is, that was expected", Melinda whispered to Coulson, who nodded in affirmation.

They knew who John Rambo was, and what he was capable of. But unless absolutely necessary, they wouldn't be asking the man to come out of retirement, because he had earned it.

"Well, I think we might need to collect its bits", Coulson finally said. "It might be useful for us, as we don't know much about this creature."

Middle-earth

Gandalf had not heard from Strider in days, and knew something had happened to him. He just hoped it was not something terrible, otherwise all hope in Middle-earth would be lost.

He knew of the strange blue things around, which seemed to have opened up everywhere.

Suddenly, he heard something, and turned around to see another opening up in front of him.

While he would be wary of stepping into something like that, Gandalf felt something like warmth from the other end of the portal, a feeling of peace and contentment, almost as if he was once more in the Land of the Valar.

So, he walked through the portal, and found himself in a land full of greenery that seemed to never end, while in front of him was a great and majestic Lion.

But what he felt from it, Gandalf knew this was no tame lion.

"Well met, Gandalf Greyhame", the Lion greeted the Grey Wizard. "I am Aslan."

"Well met, Aslan", Gandalf responded with a respectful bow, having an idea of who this was before him. "I believe you have summoned me here."

"I have, Grey Wizard", Aslan told him neutrally. "You look for the one who is to unite the forces and be King."

"Indeed, Great Lion", Gandalf nodded. "If he is lost, all hope for Middle-earth is lost with him."

"I can assure you, that where he is, he is safe", Aslan revealed, and hearing it from this being's mouth, Gandalf felt relieved at last. "However, Middle-earth is not the only world that needed his help."

"What do you mean?" Gandalf inquired. For once, he did not have the answers.

"Pathways have been opened, to many worlds", Aslan said. "And he is in one of these worlds, for some people need him. But soon, he shall return. Because many worlds are going to require many Champions."

"This is worse than what I had believed before, is it not?" Gandalf asked grimly.

"It is, very much so", Aslan noted. "However, hope remains as long as those who are good hold true to each other. This other world where he went shall need you too in time. And like I said, many worlds are going to need their Champions soon."

"I shall prepare for this, Great Lion", Gandalf told him sincerely.

"We shall meet again, Grey Wizard", Aslan said, and then, Gandalf was back in Middle-earth.

But he knew what he had seen. And while many dreaded things were about to happen soon, in this moment, he was comforted.

Chapter 11: Plans foiled

Chapter Text

Earth-1, Star City

Takeo Yamashiro stood in a base of his, as some men delivered him a box, before standing away from him.

Takeo opened the box to find a katana, and upon pulling it out of its sheath, a faint green aura was briefly seen before fading away, and he could see the face within the steel of the blade.

The Soultaker, the weapon Takeo intended to use on both Oliver's loved ones, and the man himself, and make him suffer.

Then a Japanese man approached his lord from behind and informed. "The men are ready, sir."

"Good, I've been waiting for too long", Takeo said before taking the sword in both hands, and h roared as he brought it down in the table, slicing it and the box container in half with one swing.

Then he turned to the Yakuza enforcer.

"My family's deaths will be avenged."

Team Arrow Base

Oliver stood with his arms crossed, with Thea, Laurel, Felicity and Diggle standing in front of him, looking like a misbehaving quartet that had been sent to the Principal's office.

Sara was sitting next to where Oliver stood while Hunt, Parker and Hardison were a short distance away from the group, tending to Eliot who'd finally woken up, and was healing better.

"I am sick and tired of letting all of you run roughshod over me", Oliver told all four of them in a very exhausted tone of voice that made him sound many years older than he was.

"Without him, none of you would even be here", Sara added, the four having the decency to look ashamed.

"It was my crusade, and you warped it towards your own agendas", Oliver snarled, first looking at Laurel, "your ego", he turned to Diggle, "your self-righteous beliefs", and then he looked at Felicity, "and your 'do good but only how I see it' mentality", he looked between her and Diggle, "which you two seem to share."

"And you", he looked at Thea, "last year you showed more loyalty to Malcolm than you showed to me. Even when you did not know he made you kill Sara, you do remember right, that was he was a terrorist who was responsible for the deaths of 502 people, including his own son? I only worked with him because there was no other choice." He looked at Felicity and Diggle then. "You two did not seem to have a problem with doing that when you had to get me out of Nanda Parbat."

They opened and closed their mouths a few times, but no sound came, as Thea started. "Ollie-"

"And did he ever tell you he was the one who sabotaged the Queen's Gambit?" Oliver asked, Thea's eyes widening in horror as the implications sank in. "Our father, he may not have been your father by blood, but he did not let it change anything. He raised you, Thea."

Thea looked down, clearly ashamed of herself, as Oliver turned his attention back to the rest of the team. "Your perversion of my crusade to save the city affected me as well. I stopped unleashing my full potential because I was afraid it would make all of you look down on me."

"So that's the reason, eh", Eliot spoke up in between grunts, making some eyes turn to him. "Don't think I'd call this a team if the rest of the members are affecting their leader's thought process and skills in this manner."

Felicity started. "Look, you-"

"He is right, Felicity", Sara shrugged, the four looking at her. "If I'd known things would get this bad after I left for the League, I'd have tried to find another way instead", she whispered to herself, "and fight harder for us."

Hardison whispered to the other three. "I wish I had popcorn." Then he heard crunching, the hacker turning his head with Ethan and Eliot to find Parker chewing on a handful of popcorn from the bag in her hand. "Where did you get that?"

"IMF stuff", Parker said with her mouth full of food.

Eliot raised his brow at Ethan. "So, do they glow in the dark? Leave radioactive traces so you can track the eater?"

Parker dropped the bag and stopped eating. "What?"

Ethan was only confused, looking at his old friend. "It's food, Eliot, we don't make gadgets out of everything. We're not Q branch."

"I've had enough of this hypocrisy, and enough of you all berating me for doing something, while you all do the exact same things but only for your own selfish desires", Oliver sounded spent as he said the next words, but his tone was firm. "You can either get on board, or walk away. I am done putting up with all your sh*t. I am done apologizing for who I am."

In the entirety of the last year, and this one, the only one from the team who had talked back to him without bullying him was Roy, who'd a point in that he could not baby Thea anymore.

But he had left, and Oliver was left with these people. He still cared for them, but he wasn't going to stand being treated like crap anymore.

He'd known Eliot, Hunt, Parker and Hardison for a very little time, yet he felt like he could trust them a lot more than he could trust his actual team.

Eliot had been harsh with him, but he'd genuinely wanted him to be as good as how he used to be, and considering the results, Oliver couldn't blame the man. And he was also a reasonable ear to rely on when Oliver wanted to talk.

The other three, well, they had at least ceded the floor to him due to his experience with Waller, and respected his authority on the matter. They'd worked better with him as a team on the Waller Job than his own team had worked with him since he'd returned from fighting Ra's the previous year.

"Ollie." Oliver turned to Laurel. "You were right. I was going too far, and I thought I was honoring Sara, but I just wanted something to focus myself on, without thinking it through."

"I was supposed to have your back", Diggle sighed. "But now I realize, even before you took Lyla, I hadn't had your back for a while then. And I guess someone else in your place would have done worse."

"I'm….sorry", Felicity simply said, while Thea just looked at Oliver.

"I did not want to do this, but I was left with no choice", Oliver said sadly. "From now on, all of you will listen to what I have to say. If you have a problem, bring it up to me privately, and we will talk it out. Is that fine with all of you?"

After a few seconds, they all nodded one by one, before Diggle got a call.

He picked it up. "Yes Lyla…..what? How is this…are you sure about this? Damn!"

Diggle cut the call as Oliver asked. "What happened?"

"Waller is dead", Diggle revealed, making all of them share looks of shock.

"No big loss I'd say", Parker shrugged.

"Who did it?" Oliver inquired. He did not care about Waller, and would have liked to kill her himself, but still, anyone killing her would not have had good intentions themselves.

"We do not know, but she was killed by arrows." Diggle raised a hand before anyone could speak. "And no Oliver, I'm not saying you did it, the arrows are completely different from what you use. Not to mention, after you got those files from her, you'd have no reason to kill her."

Oliver nodded. "Guess this is another matter to look into, even if Waller got what was coming to her."

"I guess that's one bad guy down for you, huh?" Eliot chuckled, Oliver nodding.

"Lyla said they want to make her the next Director", Diggle revealed then.

"If there is someone I'd trust in that position, its her", Oliver said, Diggle nodding with a smile of his own. "Now, we've all had a long day. So, all of you go rest. Eliot, Parker, Hardison and Hunt can stay here. I hope this is a new start for all of us."

One by one, Team Arrow exited the place, Sara giving Oliver a smile and meaningful look that he returned, before she was out as well.

He turned to the four people from other worlds. "I know all of you will be going back to your own world soon, but I have to say thank you to you all."

"Likewise", Hunt told Oliver. "We all helped each other."

"Let's make sure we can stay in contact though", Hardison added. "That'd be needed."

"I agree", Oliver nodded.

Adrian was hooked up to a machine, as he watched some students of Talia engage in battle, while Talia stood next to him.

The chip was being inserted into his brain, and any fighting styles not there already, those were being downloaded at the moment.

Watching the students fight, Adrian got an insane smirk on his face. Soon enough, he would be the threat that Oliver Queen would have to face.

Earth-21

Lex Luthor looked at his machine, that had now been fixed. It had managed to transport Clark and Bart to another world clearly, and Lex was intent on discovering what lay on the other side himself.

"Here we go", he smirked as he touched the empty space in the middle of the sphere, only for the machine to suddenly crackle, as a blue portal opened, and it started sucking him in, and other things as well, Lex realizing it was still malfunctioning.

Before he could do anything though, he was sucked in by the machine.

Earth-199999, Sokovia

The portal opened, unleashing a shockwave, as Lex was thrown out of it, knocked out.

Two soldiers with guns then stood over him, looking amongst themselves, making a decision.

Earth-1, Star City

Felicity was returning home, deciding it was time to tell Oliver about Ray now. She realized now how badly she had been treating him, due to the image of him she had in her mind, and her actions were due to the fact that she could not accept who he really was.

They were wrong either way. Now, she'd apologize, tell him about Ray, and continue to work for him, even if she did not think she could stomach everything he did.

Suddenly, she heard the click of a gun behind her. Gulping, she froze.

"I have…things, you can take-"

"You are coming with me", the man said in a Japanese accent before reaching her front, and from the kind of mask he wore, he looked to be Yakuza. "My master wants to see you."

"So, I have a friend in Central City", Oliver was telling the four. "I'm thinking he could make something to help us stay in contact."

Before any of them could reply, Oliver suddenly got a call, and took out his phone to see it was a video call from Felicity. He accepted it, and then his blood ran cold as he saw Felicity crying, Takeo holding his sword to her throat.

"This is the woman you love, is it not, Oliver Queen?" Takeo asked, as the other four walked up behind him. "Meet me at the former Bratva base of this city if you care about her. Otherwise, I will send her pieces to you as a gift."

The call was cut, Oliver shaking in rage. He did not love Felicity, but he could understand why Takeo came to that conclusion. However, he still cared about her, and she was not going to suffer over this madman's vendetta.

"Him again?" Eliot asked.

"Who is he?" Parker inquired.

"A man who blames me for the deaths of his family", Oliver said sadly. "And so he will do anything to get back at me."

"We will help you in saving her, Oliver", Hunt assured him.

In their shared apartment, Laurel saw Thea sitting on her knees, tears in her eyes, and wrapped an arm around the younger woman. "What's the matter?"

"Did you know about the Gambit?" Thea inquired.

"No, but doesn't surprise me Malcolm would do that", Laurel said bitterly, remembering her feelings over having lost Sara back then.

"That degenerate has a hand in ruining most of our lives", Sara noted grimly as she sat on Thea's other end.

"You know, Ollie is right", Thea muttered to herself. "Robert may not have been my biological father, but he raised me, he loved me. And I threw it all away when I decided to go with Malcolm, all because Ollie and Roy kept a few secrets for me."

"We all make mistakes at your age, Thea", Sara assured her while patting her shoulder. "I know that better than anyone."

"No more…" Thea whispered, wiping her eyes. "No more."

That moment, Laurel got a call, and seeing it was Oliver, picked up. "Hello….Oliver…what? Okay, we're coming!"

She cut the call as Sara inquired. "What's the matter?"

"Takeo took Felicity", Laurel said, causing Thea to stand up as well. "Let's go."

Earth-199999, Sokovia

Lex Luthor's wrists were chained, his feet hovering above the ground, a bag over his head, while a man sat at a table nearby, hidden by the shadows.

A man took off the bag, Lex now seeing the figure in the shadows, as well as his wallet and phone on the table.

Lex started. "I am-"

The man who'd taken off the bag decked him, turning his head the other way.

The man in the shadows said something in Sokovian, and the soldier backed off, while the man looked at Lex. "You were saying."

"I am Lex Luthor, CEO of LexCorp."

"There is no such thing."

"Not in this world." One of the other soldiers pulled out a knife that Lex did not want to be on the receiving end of.

Lex tried to lean away but his position made it impossible.

The man said something in Sokovian again, the soldier stopped, and that was when a light turned on at the table, finally revealing the man's face as he stared at Lex.

"And what about YOUR world?"

Lex immediately explained. "A Singularity! It tore apart the borders between realities, weakening them so at certain points, someone could walk through. I wanted to try to harness that power, and that was how I ended up in his current here."

Lex started wigging out, making him gasp in pain. The man peered at him after that as the other soldiers muttered, before outright asking, "Tell me, Mr. Luthor, why should I release you?"

"The machine that created the portal must not have been as stable as I believed. It must have affected my body, I could die."

"Your death is not as motivating as you think it is."

He turned to a soldier, and nodded, the soldier gathering some pictures that he gave to the man, and he approached.

"You say that you created one of these portals. Tell me, which of these "guests" are a result of your work." Then the man revealed one of the photos, a humanoid being with icy blue skin, glowing eyes, and a sword made from ice.

Lex narrowed his eyes in confusion, and shook his head. His captor showed the next picture, and Lex did not know how to react.

"Is that a giant watermelon?"

"Yes, yes it is. As you can see, we live in interesting times."

"I always thought my personal chef was up to something", Lex joked and to his surprise, the man chuckled with him.

"Always take care with those who handle your food." Then any sign of humor left him as he moved on with another picture.

Lex was shown a creature that was definitely not human, with grey skin and horns, then one of a large four-armed, big-eared, red skinned thing, he didn't know what else to call it.

After that, a picture of a canine-like beast with no eyes and a worm-like tongue.

Then, Lex finally saw something he recognized.

"Him, he's from my world." He would recognize that shield and cape anywhere.

The man looked at the picture himself, examining the details of the dark haired man before looking back at the captive. "This man saved a 747 the moment he first arrived."
That made Lex snort. "Of course he did."

"From what we have gathered, he is on par with some of the strongest "heroes" on this planet, maybe even stronger."

"Yep, that'd be Superman."

"And you would send this disease to us?"

Lex was stunned, but collected himself. "Not intentionally." By the tone of his voice and how he emphasized "heroes", Lex picked up a certain amount of hate, the source of the hate he could not say for certain, but the Luthor believed he found an in with the man. "You hate his kind, don't you?" He hoped his captor thought the same "kind" as Lex believed.

Handing the pictures away, the man folded his hands behind his back and leaned to his prisoner. "Power invites challenges, which incites conflict. The greater the power, the more devastating the destruction. Yet, humanity's great flaw is that it always wanted more. How much do you think someone would spend to match this "Superman's" power?"

"Too much." So that was it. Lex' captor hated the superpowered.

"Too much. The man agreed. He nodded to his men, and Lex felt himself being lowered until his feet touched the ground, more men came and unlocked his cuffs, and immediately he sighed in relief.

"We will ensure someone with the proper resources will send you back to your original world." The man walked away, but Lex had another idea.

"You hate them." The man paused in his steps. "Superheroes, anyone with inhuman powers."

"From how you referred to your caped "friend", I can only assume you feel the same way." The Sokovian Colonel faced Lex again, but remained a distance away. "What is your point?"

"What if we were to get rid of them. All of them. On my world, and yours." The man's brow rose but showed no other reaction, which disappointed Lex, he thought he would be more enthused by the idea.

"You do realize the challenge of eliminating beings of such caliber?"

Lex almost chuckled. "Trust me, I've been dealing people like this for more than ten years."

"Yet you had not cleansed your problem." Lex had no answer. "If your endeavor has been so unsuccessful, why would I, or my men, help you?"

Lex thought, and thought hard, on how to convince the Sokovian. The man needed assurances, he needed to know this would succeed. No promise of certainty, then no chance. But thinking on the fact that Lex found someone who shared his beliefs on superheroes, he could have ended up anywhere, it's as if fate brought them together.

"Because we're not alone." The man's face held intrigue, and Lex knew, he had him now. "There are others like us, there has to be. With my machine, we could find more people, more resources, to end the threat of anyone wearing spandex and capes. Our worlds would be safe, our futures would be bright, and our children will live knowing they will be protected, not by freaks in masks, but by humanity."

It took a long time, Lex did not count, but the man walked back to where he stood before, with his men walking away, so it was only Lex and the Colonel, standing face to face, one bleeding, and the other smirking.

"You have my attention."

"You know my name, I'd like us to be on equal standing."

The Sokovian Colonel finally gave his name. "My name is Helmut Zemo."

New York City, Avengers Tower

Steve was in the Tower, gearing up, attaching the shield to his back as he asked JARVIS. "What am I looking at?"

"Unknown, sir. A creature of unknown origins fell through another of the portals above Times Square. Law enforcement has tried to engage the creature, but their bullets have proven ineffective."

Steve attached his helmet, then holstered a handgun to his waist. With these new creatures from other worlds, the more prepared, the better. He began making his way to the platform.

"It is approximately twenty feet in height, aggressive, and strong. Stronger than you, Captain", JARVIS warned as Steve finally made it to the flight deck, which was free of the Quinjet, already taken by Natasha and Clint for another mission.

"I appreciate your concern, JARVIS, but I'll manage", Steve assured the A.I. as he approached his new "Sky-Cycle", as Tony had dubbed it.

Taking designs from one of Howard's old projects, Tony had modified a Harley-Davidson for Steve's use during missions, and he had to say, it was a hell of an upgrade.

"Colonel Rhodes has been notified, but will be delayed in Latveria. I'll keep Dr. Banner on standby, just in case, sir."

"I appreciate it, JARVIS."

With Tony, Thor, Natasha, and Clint all gone, Steve was the only Avenger left, and Code: Green was only a last resort. Mounting the bike, Steve flipped a switch on the handlebar.

The next second, the front and back tyres retracted, replaced by a repulsor powered propulsion system. Steve hovered in place for a second before revving the bike and shooting across the sky above New York.

Earth-1

Oliver was in a building in front of the former Bratva base, now run by the Yakuza instead, as he spoke to Hardison on comms. "Can you see anything?"

"5 men on the ground", Hardison said, typing through the computers, happy that technology wasn't Takeo's strongest suite. "3 on the stairwell, 7 right above there, 5 more above there outside a room, and there are 3 with him in the room."

"I think we can handle that", Oliver noted, then called out on comms. "Guys, let's go."

And then, the door of the building burst open as Diggle started firing upon the Yakuza on the ground floor, while Laurel let out her Canary Cry, making them cover their ears, and then she struck one on the face with her baton thrice, dazing him, before punching his gut. She tried to punch again but he blocked and threw her to the other side, only for her to let out her Canary Cry again, and as he covered his ears, she flipped up and kicked his face and throat hard, finally knocking him out.

Meanwhile, Diggle flipped one of the remaining ones on the ground, and kicked him out, before shooting the other one's shoulder, getting him as well.

Then, the two of them rushed upwards, towards the stairwell, Diggle shooting two of the men down while Laurel let out her Canary Cry, and the last one covered his ears before she struck his gut with the baton, and struck him hard there, winding him, before spin kicking his face as he was out.

At the same time, an explosion rocked the wall above the stairwell, making the seven back off right as Sara leapt out of the smoke, using her staff to strike one of the men hard in the face as he was out.

She spun her staff and tripped two more as Oliver and Thea appeared while she said. "Go! I got this!"

They ran further while Sara engaged the remaining, Oliver and Thea running further as the 5 outside the room came.

Oliver shot one down and spin kicked another on the face, knocking him out, while Thea struck one with her bow, before leaping and kicking him back with both feet. Oliver spun again and struck another's feet with his bow, taking him down before kicking his face, and then flipping, trapped the last one's head between his feet and knocked him out with another flip as Thea took out the one she was fighting.

Cautiously, the two moved ahead.

"My brother, dead. My nephew, dead. Your own parents, dead." Takeo's voice was ringing out of an intercom. "How many people died because of you, Oliver Queen? And how many more will suffer the same fate?"

"Hardison", Oliver whispered.

"He is there, Oliver, he is not moving."

"Do your team know what kind of monster you are?"

Oliver reached the room and kicked the door open to see Takeo had the Soultaker to Felicity's throat, the other 3 men moving towards him and Thea.

"You are Death's dog, Oliver Queen, and the master follows his pet wherever he goes", he smirked.

Oliver and Thea looked like they wanted to attack.

"Drop your weapons", Takeo snarled, his men close to Oliver and Thea, while he looked at Oliver. "Now I have the woman you love."

"I don't have a clear shot at him right now, Oliver."

"Oliver", Felicity said in between tears and whimpers. "I'm sorry."

Oliver was reminded of when Slade had Felicity in a similar position, but this time there was no plan.

"No", he shook his head. "I am."

Takeo looked between the two, before looking at Oliver's eyes with his own, and then his eyes seemed to widen, as if he was registering something.

"No….." he whispered, as the realization sank in, and his grip on Felicity loosened, making her stagger forward. "This can't be! THIS CAN'T BE!"

"Takeo…" Oliver tried to talk him down.

"YOU DON'T LOVE HER!" Takeo screamed in rage. "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HAVE MY REVENGE, HUH?"

"Felicity, get away from him!" Oliver cried out, as Takeo made to stab her, while the window burst open, and Parker swung in.

Felicity tried to move, as Takeo managed to get her side, making her gasp in pain, as the swinging Parker struck his face, making him fall, while she grabbed Felicity and swung out, shattering another window, while at the same time, gunshots rang out, the other 3 Yakuza dropping.

From his vantage point, Ethan Hunt tried to get a lock on Takeo.

Thea charged Takeo and tried to strike, but he rolled away to avoid, then swept her feet from underneath her. With a roar, he got up and grabbed her, as Oliver cried out in horror. "NO!"

Sara, Diggle and Laurel burst in, as Takeo now had his Soultaker to Thea's throat instead, while Oliver aimed his arrow, and Diggle aimed his gun.

"This sword, it is called the Soultaker, I am sure you can guess why", Takeo said with a deranged smirk now. "Even in death, the one who dies shall be trapped in this prison- Forever! And now, I have the person you truly love above all else, and I shall have my revenge!"

"Let. Her. Go."

"Bring me back Maseo and Akio. Return my brother and nephew, I return your sister."

"I can't."

Takeo smiled without humor, applying more pressure on the sword against the young woman's neck, drawing a line of blood, causing Oliver to take an aggressive step forward, as the other three tried to cautiously step forth too, while Takeo stepped a little back and to the side, still holding Thea hostage.

"So the lives of my family means less than that of your former lover?"

Oliver and Sara showed no outward reaction that Takeo knew about their former relationship. Thea looked scared.

"Oliver, I have the shot now."

"Doesn't matter anymore. I have no one left. Feel my pain."

Takeo was about to cut Thea's throat.

"NOW!" Oliver shouted.

And then, a gunshot hit Takeo's hand, making him gasp as he lost the Soultaker, and then the roof caved in, Eliot bursting down from above, striking Takeo in the head, making him fall forwards as Thea stumbled away, Oliver catching her in his arms.

"Ollie!" Thea sobbed. "I am sorry!"

"Its all right, Speedy, I'm here now", Oliver assured her while patting her back, as Takeo got up, but Eliot decked his face, making him stagger back, then blocked an attempted punch before flipping Takeo over his shoulder, only for Takeo to fall near the Soultaker as he picked it back up.

Eliot groaned, unsteady on his feet, as while he was healing, the drill wounds were going to take much longer. But he wasn't going to stay back while the others were out.

Oliver let Thea go and tried to fire at Takeo, who used his sword to cut two of the arrows, before leaping out of the window. Oliver leapt after him, as Takeo swung to another rooftop, and Oliver swung there too, aiming an arrow at Takeo. "Takeo, stop!"

Final Showdown With Diaz plays

Takeo stopped, as Oliver walked closer, only for Takeo to whirl around as he chopped off the arrowhead with his sword, making Oliver leap back as Takeo swung again, but Oliver leapt to avoid the sword swing before kicking Takeo back.

Takeo steadied himself, then tried to strike Oliver, who side-stepped to avoid, then struck his chest with his bow, making Takeo double down, while Oliver grabbed him by the back of the neck and threw him away.

He was about to fire when Takeo got back up and fired an arrow of his own that Oliver countered. Takeo fired another arrow but Oliver caught it, spun around, and fired it. Takeo tried to dodge but it struck Takeo's quiver, shattering it as his arrows spilled.

And then, with another shot, Oliver disarmed Takeo of his sword, then rushing him, wrapped his feet around Takeo's neck and flipped him to the ground.

He tried to strike again but Takeo grabbed Oliver's neck with his own feet and slammed his head to the ground, before getting up and punching him back, and then he kicked Oliver's hand, making his bow fall away.

Takeo then spun to elbow Oliver, but Oliver blocked it and pushed as Takeo flipped and landed, then tried to flip and kick Oliver's face, only for Oliver to lean back while ducking before leaping up and kicking Takeo's chin, making him fly back while spitting out blood.

Takeo did a cartwheel to avoid falling, only for Oliver to deck his face, then grab it before kneeing it thrice. Takeo freed himself and grabbing Oliver, rushed forwards, pushing him back, before Oliver dug his feet on the rooftop, and elbowed Takeo's back a few times, weakening his grip, right as Oliver kneed his chest thrice, and Takeo let go as Oliver spun and kicked his throat, making him fall down, bleeding badly.

Takeo spat blood, glaring at Oliver, who moved towards him. "Its over!"

"NEVER!" He screamed, and threw down a smoke bomb, making Oliver avert his gaze. When the smoke cleared, Takeo was gone with the Soultaker.

Earth-92, Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel

After having returned to their world, Angel and Buffy had told their teams of what had transpired during their meeting, and right now, the Scoobies and Team Angel were gathered in the Hyperion Hotel, mainly to work on the sensors that the Winchester brothers had, so they could detect people from other worlds too.

"I mean, we were joking about what could be happening when they met", Cordelia Chase whispered to Charles Gunn. "Didn't think an actual trip to another world was part of my jokes though."

"Fell short there, huh Queen C?" Xander Harris asked jokingly.

"Don't be happy, mine were still better than anything you could come up with", Cordelia scoffed, Xander putting a hand over his chest.

"I'm gonna get out with the little dignity I've left intact", Xander muttered.

"Thought it was pretty little already", Gunn joked, him and Cordelia sharing a chuckle as Xander sighed.

"I wish An was here", Xander muttered, as she was back in Sunnydale to run the Magic Box.

"So now you don't mind letting a woman fight your battles for you, eh?" Buffy joked, and Xander groaned once more.

"Okay, I had that one coming", he sighed.

"You have a lot coming", Cordelia told him.

At a distance from them, in the center of the room, at a table, Willow Rosenberg, Tara Maclay, Winifred 'Fred' Burkle, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce and Rupert Giles worked on the sensors together.

"I admit, I have not seen magic and science match in such a way in my lifetime", Giles noted while he and Wesley read from the books.

"But you're not much into science anyways", Willow reminded Giles, and he gave her a look.

"How can you not be into science?" Fred asked Giles, and now he looked at her weirdly. "I mean, evolution, advancement, that's how we have always grown from the last age. You're weird."

"I'm inclined to agree", Wesley said, then did a fake exaggerated cough on seeing Giles' look.

"So, our world, it has various magicks", Tara noted, her hand glowing a little. "It is part of everything around us. Meaning, they can sense when something not of this world is nearby."

"And everything here does have a steady frequency on this spectrum as well", Fred commented, making a note of it. "Someone from another world would have a different frequency, just like the magicks of this world will not be connected to them."

"So, we will have to find a way to infuse the detecting magicks into such a frequency detector", Tara said, Fred making a little diagram of how that'd work.

"Voila!" Fred smiled.

"Wow! There's two of them now", Cordelia quipped. "I always wondered how they'd be together. Shy and shyer!"

Buffy, Xander and Gunn chuckled, as Buffy asked. "Fred is straight, right? Otherwise Willow would have competition."

"I mean, they could just do a three-way", Cordelia shrugged jokingly.

"Buffy." Buffy turned to see Angel, and he gestured to a corner, so she followed him there.

"What's up?" She asked him.

"Have you told them yet?" Angel inquired.

"Told them what?"

"You know what I'm talking about", Angel told her.

"Right, that", Buffy sighed. "No, not yet."

"Why not?"

"I don't think they're ready yet", Buffy shook her head, turning away.

"And why do you get to decide that?" Angel asked.

"Why did they get to decide where I was after death?" Buffy snarled bitterly.

"They made a mistake, a costly one", Angel agreed. "But that's because they did not have your input on the matter, they did not have the chance to get it. Its not like a Higher Being came down from above and told them you were fine, and they still decided to bring you back. They thought you were in a Hell Dimension."

"Your point being?" Buffy asked, sounding irritated.

"They didn't know better. You do", Angel pointed out. "If you don't tell them what really happened and continue to wallow by yourself, they can't help you and even try to make up for what they did. Think about that."

Sighing, Buffy walked away. "I'll think about telling them."

Angel shook his head. He couldn't force her to tell her friends, that was her own decision, but he really hoped she saw sense and told them before it was too late.

Earth-1, Star City

Panting, Takeo staggered back into his usual Yakuza base, putting his hand to the wall, only to feel a liquid, and he pulled it back to see it was blood. Looking up, he saw a dead Yakuza hanging from the fan.

Then he looked ahead and saw the rest had been slaughtered too, their blood all around.

"What the…" he muttered in horror.

"I told you, Oliver Queen is mine."

Prometheus theme plays

Takeo turned around to see the Throwing Star Killer walking towards him, and roared. "HOW DARE YOU?!"

He struck with his Soultaker, only for the Throwing Star Killer to dodge, before punching his face, then his throat, as Takeo staggered back while coughing.

"How dare you?" The Throwing Star Killer asked calmly, only for Takeo to flip and kick his face, sending him falling down.

He tried to bring the sword down on him but the Throwing Star Killer rolled away to avoid before flipping back up.

"You know how this ended last time", Takeo reminded with a sneer, and tried to slice his throat, but he leaned back to avoid, then grabbed Takeo's wrist, decking it thrice, before spinning and elbowing Takeo's back as he dropped the Soultaker due to the shock, as the Throwing Star Killer spun again and did a double leg takedown of Takeo.

Takeo staggered back up, and remembering last time, spun, trying to grab his opponent and flip him to the ground, but the Throwing Star Killer grabbed his hand instead, and bringing it down on his knee, twisted hard as Takeo screamed in pain.

He let go, as Takeo staggered back, only for him to kick his face hard, breaking his nose while he fell down.

Climbing upon him, the Throwing Star Killer started pounding upon Takeo's face, as Takeo spat blood with each punch, and then, he joined his fists, pounding Takeo's face even harder, breaking some teeth.

Then, he took out one of his shurikens, and pierced the side of Takeo's neck, before drawing a line of blood across his throat, Takeo coughing more blood from his mouth, while it also splattered on the Throwing Star Killer's mask.

Finally, he ran it across Takeo's throat completely, as the man stopped breathing, his face a bloodied mess.

"Only I can kill Oliver Queen."

The lair

"You were right, Ollie", Thea said to him, guilt in her voice. "I shouldn't have left with Malcolm. I turned my back on you."

"I did the same", Oliver said, making her look at him. "When I left with Felicity, I did the same to you and the rest. You'd lost the love of your life, almost been killed by Ra's and then brought back to life by a Lazarus Pit. You needed me, and I left."

"I guess both of us owe each other apologies, don't we?" Thea muttered, Oliver nodding.

"Let's start fresh", Oliver said, and the two siblings embraced, hoping this would be the fresh start they needed.

Parting, they walked to the rest, where Felicity had been bandaged up by Sara and Eliot, the former saying. "It will take a few weeks, but it'll heal."

"That guy is still in the wind though", Eliot said with a snarl.

"We'll get him", Oliver assured them all. "This time he won't escape."

"Oliver, there is something I need to tell you", Felicity said, as the team looked at her. "I was going to tell you before, but I got taken, then I was being bandag-"

"Felicity!" Everyone said at the same time.

"Right, right, sorry. So, Ray…he is alive. And he is in trouble."

Earth-199999

Steve got off the sky-cycle, seeing it was a gorilla-like and burly monster that was destroying things all around. Some people and cops had been killed by it already.

Well, no more were gonna die.

Holding his shield, Steve pulled back, and threw, the shield striking the monster's head and returning to his hand, as the monster turned to him and roared.

Well, it was unaffected, meaning Steve would be having a really hard time fighting it.

The monster charged Steve like a gorilla, trying to slam upon him, as Steve rolled away to avoid, throwing his shield and striking its head again, to no avail before catching the shield upon return.

It charged him again with a punch as Steve brought his shield in the way, managing to block that, before spinning and kicking the hand, not that it was affected much.

The monster tried to grab him but he jumped back to avoid in time, then leapt at its hand, before leaping towards it face with his shield, managing to slam the shield onto its face, but it was still barely affected as Steve dropped down and rolled between its legs, getting onto the other side before standing up as the monster turned to face him again.

It tried to swipe its wrist, but Steve did a leap and a roll to dodge that, then threw the shield on its other hand as it grunted, while he caught it, and was about to leap, when one hand came too close.

Quickly taking out his handgun, Steve shot that hand. While the monster was barely affected, it retracted its hand still.

Steve braced with his shield, but felt the temperature drop drastically, and saw the monster's limb being encased in ice, freezing its movement.

The beast stepped back and slammed the arm down, breaking the limb from the ice, but not before something leapt over Steve's head and tackled the big ugly creature, that something being a man with metal skin, pounding steel-covered fists on its head.

That was when Steve turned to see a young man with some facial scruff, wearing black jacket and hoody, pointing his hands forward, with the Avenger noticing the cold mist leaking from his palms.

"Captain America, sir-"

"Got a name, son?"

Surprised, he quickly tried to answer. "Bobby, sir."

Nodding, the Captain replied "Steve," and turned back to the fight, where the metal man was thrown into a cop car. "What did you do just do?"

"My powers let me freeze things."

"Can you freeze something that big?" Steve gestures to the creature that beat on the ground and roared in some kind of language.

Bobby steeled himself and stood straight. "I can."

"Check the area for any civilians, guide them out, and block off the area, we don't need anyone else getting close to this thing. Once you do, immobilize it, slow it down."

"Got it, sir."

"Pleasure to meet you", Steve smiled. Iceman wasn't the first Mutant he'd met though. He remembered back in the 40s, him and the Howling Commandos had briefly worked with a man called James Howlett. Steve remembered the guy was very uncanny, and he could survive and come out intact from things no normal man could survive.

Steve had also seen him get shot sometimes, but there was not even a scratch later. James claimed he'd not actually been shot, but Steve knew better. Only, he didn't say anything as he knew it could get James in trouble.

Ever since he'd found out about Mutants in the modern day, and the Alcatraz incident that involved this X-Men team (he'd researched it but didn't know the full details) Steve had a very good feeling that James had definitely been a Mutant.

The monster charged at them again, when the man made of metal leapt and punched it, making it stagger back again while the man landed, then leapt near Steve, as Bobby formed an ice-slide after running, escorting people away.

"I am Colossus", the new man introduced himself. "Honored to meet you."

"Same here", Steve nodded.

Steve rolled away to avoid and threw his shield at its head, getting its attention, only for Colossus to get behind it and punch it in the back of the head as it staggered forwards, Steve jumping out of the way.

At that moment, Bobby had surrounded the battlefield with a thick ice wall, and then, he slid around the creature, freezing it and slowing it down as the shield impacted against its head.

It roared and struck the ice slide, making Bobby fall, only for Steve to leap and catch him before landing, as Colossus stood near them.

"Take me with you", Colossus offered.

"Sure", Bobby said, making another slide as he and Colossus now slid together, Iceman blasting the creature's face with ice, blinding it, before Colossus leapt on its head, slamming his fist down on it, before grabbing onto it.

The creature roared, trying to shake Colossus off as it broke through the ice wall, before smacking him away, and started making a run for it, climbing a building and breaking parts of it due to its strength.

"I could go up there and hit it again, maybe freeze it to death", Iceman offered.

"What do you think?" Colossus asked Steve.

"You're quite strong", Steve noted. "How far can you throw?"

Colossus' steel face smirked. "One fastball special coming right up."

Grabbing Steve, Colossus spun him around and threw him towards the climbing monster, the Captain holding out his shield straight.

The monster turned to Steve at the last second, and the shield's edge made contact with its head, cracking it open and killing it as it started falling, and Steve started falling too.

Steve was about to take out his wire-launcher, when suddenly, the monster's body disappeared into a breach, and Steve fell into it as well before he could do anything else.

"Okay, what was that?" Colossus asked in horror.

"I…..have no idea", Iceman muttered.

Chapter 12: On a new world

Chapter Text

Unknown Universe, Unknown world

Steve crashed onto the ground, while the monster's body hit some sort of tentacle.

As Steve got up, the tentacle lashed out, trying to grab the body of the creature, but struggled with the weight.

Upon hearing the screech, Steve rolled away and could only look at the mouth in the ground open with a long tongue reaching out. He watched in shock before commenting, "That's no weed."

Then his eyes began to wander to his surroundings, and widened. Everything was clouded in the dark of night, the ground was dark and the air misty. The flora was unlike anything Steve had ever seen, glowing a bioluminescent red light with twisted shapes that made him think of some kind of Witch story.

But what really caught Steve's interest and concern were the explosions filling up the sky, along with the distant sounds of what the Captain of the Howling Commandos assumed were weapons.

Artillery, guns, he didn't know, but already his mind began to drift to times the Avenger would rather keep in the past.

Accessing his situation, Steve stood straight and gazed into the distance where more explosions and smoke seemed to emanate. The creature and he fell through a breach, and now, they were definitely not on Earth, or, they were, and the Earth of this Universe turned out VERY different than his own.

Could the breach have also led to somewhere else in his Universe? The Avengers or any of their allies had turned up no such record of the breaches transporting lifeforms across their resident Universe, but Steve could not rule it out.

Usually, breaches seemed to lead to other Earths, but they were still mysteries to even Tony and his other friends.

Cap had to keep his mind open to all possibilities.

For now, Steve had one priority: find signs of life and see if they could help him. The Star-Spangled Man had his plan, with a shield on his back and pistol by his waist. He walked towards the direction of the explosions and smoke.

"Long way from Brooklyn", Steve could not help from muttering.

Earth-1, Star City

Team Arrow, Team Leverage and Hunt were in the Arrow Cave together, trying to trace where Ray's video was coming from.

"How long have you known?" Oliver inquired.

"About a week", Felicity confessed. "But I couldn't do much, I was still dealing with Curtis' death. Then Eliot was captured, you'd the whole thing with Waller, and then Takeo coming after me. Didn't get a chance until now."

"Oh we'll find him", Hardison assured her. "We've done much more impossible things before." He looked at Hunt. "No offense."

Hunt just shrugged.

There was a beep as Felicity realized. "The back trace program worked."

"Check it", Eliot said simply.

They typed a bit, and then Ray Palmer's face came on the screen.

"Felicity, Felicity, is that you?" Ray asked her.

"Oh, my God, Ray!" Felicity sighed in relief.

"Ray, where are you?" Oliver inquired.

"I don't know", Ray said sadly. "And if that wasn't enough, I think I'm being held against my will."

"What?!"

"Yeah, they want my suit, or at least the tech", Ray told them. "The good news is, the tech is useless to them in my current condition."

Oliver started. "Ray, if you have your suit, then why don't you just—"

"Bust my way out? Yeah, that's not really happening."

Oliver inquired. "What, the suit doesn't work?"

Ray revealed. "Actually, it worked a little too well."

Dig asked him. "How well?"

Where Ray was, he looked up at the glass case inside which he was kept alongside his suit, both shrunk to a miniature size.

Few minutes later

Diggle was rubbing his forehead in shock. "I need to go out, get a few drinks, because this-"

"Yeah, like how did he shrink to the size of a tater tot?" Thea inquired.

"You've people from another world before you and this is where you draw the line?" Eliot inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Normal people from another world!" Dig said.

"Fair point", Thea spoke at the same time.

"Ray is the size of a tater tot", Felicity noted.

Ethan told the rest. "You know, there's some bedtime stories of an operative the size of an ant. If the stuff that happened in the past few years on my Earth is anything to go by, tiny humans isn't that much a stretch."

Felicity then spoke. "The bottom line is that Ray jury-rigged a short-range message burst that was intercepted by whoever's holding him captive."

Oliver noted. "Ray thinks they want the suit for its technology, but they can't use it while its small."

Laurel added. "And while he's small, it's like looking for a needle in a city of haystacks."

"There was something to help him there, right?" Parker asked, as Felicity played part of the new message again.

"Back at Palmer Tech, I've got schematics for a machine that should be able to resize me."

"I'm gonna go get it", Felicity said as she walked off.

"I could come with you", Hardison stood up.

She started. "I think I can-"

"Felicity, take Hardison with you", Oliver said, and she relented, walking off with Hardison.

"Now I wish I'd brought Luther and Benji with me", Hunt commented.

Central City, STAR Labs

Strider, Batman and Harry stood in front of where the breach to Earth-2 STAR Labs was, with the rest of Team Flash behind them. They had packed up supplies to help themselves.

They turned around, seeing Cisco, Caitlin, Joe, Iris and Barry, who sat on a wheelchair, as he had still not recovered from Zoom's beatdown.

"I wish I could come with you guys", Barry said sadly.

"You are terrible right now", Strider told Barry. "You should try to get better again."

Barry simply nodded as Caitlin told the three. "Good luck, guys." She looked at Harry. "I hope you get your daughter back."

"I will", Harry told them.

"You sure you don't want me to come and help?" Cisco asked again.

"We already know where she is, and you haven't learnt to control your powers fully", Batman pointed out.

"Fair point."

"Just, come back safe guys", Joe said to them. "With Jesse."

"Yeah", Iris agreed.

The three looked at Team Flash one more time, then turned around to the breach, walking into it as they started seeing many things.

First, they saw a dark-skinned man in a Green Arrow suit firing an arrow.

Then they saw what looked like another man in a Flash costume, a stubble underneath his face.

After that, they saw a blonde woman in a suit and skirt with a 'S' symbol on her chest flying, her cape flowing behind her.

Then, they saw a man in a hat, the right side of his face heavily burnt.

Next up, they saw a man wearing glasses running around, having a Walkman with him.

Then, they saw another Batman who seemed to look just like the Batman with them.

And finally, they stepped out on the other side of the breach, in the STAR Labs of Earth-2, Aragorn looking around. "So that is how it is like to travel through one of these."

"Yeah", Harry told him as they walked further.

"This does not look too different", Strider said, the three walking out in the night, as they saw Central City of Earth-2.

People were moving around, and there was a train running on a rail above.

"What is that?" Strider looked at the train.

"Just something many people can move around in, from one place to another, if they pay", Harry explained. "Its called a train. Its like a big car, for many people."

Strider nodded, as Batman looked at the train disappear. "That is….a weird train."

Harry did a double take, shocked to hear Batman joke, then said. "Welcome to Earth-2."

After that, he said. "We don't have much time, we need to get to Ascension Cliffs quickly."

"You two go ahead, I'll join you quickly", Batman said, as he walked back inside.

"What does he want now?" Harry wondered.

"I am not sure of that myself", Strider shook his head, then saw the old style cars nearby. "These….cars look very different from the ones in that world."

"Yeah, like I said, our world is different", Harry shrugged.

"I can feel it in the air as well", Strider noted, then looked at the sky. "Even the sky looks different."

Inside, Batman plugged his drive to a computer, and typed through, deciding to see what this world was like, including his doppelganger.

He found some articles of his Earth-2 self, throwing huge parties all over Gotham City, and absconding with supermodels, though there were reports of Batman too.

That could only mean one thing- his doppelganger had learnt to differentiate between Bruce Wayne and Batman. He was still trying to learn that.

And he fought some strange villains- a crocodile man? And a man in a pig mask?

Batman decided to keep this info with him, in case any of these showed up in his world.

He also looked through info about Team Flash and Team Arrow members on this Earth.

He found out Robert Queen was The Hood here, and had been exposed recently, though the circ*mstances around that were unclear, while someone else had taken up the mantle, but without any information, Batman couldn't tell who the new vigilante was.

Since Robert was dead on this Earth, that meant Oliver Queen was The Hood or the Arrow, as well as the Green Arrow. He'd figured it out a while ago, but this had confirmed it to him.

Then he saw something else, and narrowed his eyes.

Strider and Harry were waiting, as Batman came out, glaring at the latter, and suddenly punched him, making him stagger away as he held his face, to Strider's shock.

"Why did you do that?" Harry inquired.

"Is he a speedster in secret as well?" Strider inquired, but Batman shook his head.

As Harry recovered, Batman grabbed him by the collar and slammed him to the door. "The Particle Accelerator- you never took responsibility and made meta-human trackers to profit off of this?"

Harry tried to argue. "It was for the peo-"

"Bullcrap, it was to profit off of the rise of meta-humans while hiding your role in this", Batman snarled. "They're throwing them into black sites like they're not even humans. Did you ever think about that?"

Harry looked down, unable to face Batman, as Strider asked. "What do you mean?"

"An accident caused by him is responsible for the meta-humans in this world. Now, they are being treated as less than human because they're different, and he has not taken responsibility for it", Batman sneered.

Strider looked at Harry in disappointment. "Why would you not accept the consequences of your mistakes?"

Harry sighed sadly, Batman asking. "How'd you face your daughter like this?"

He could imagine how Jesse would feel, finding out her father was not who she thought he was. He could feel it too, as he'd felt similarly not too long ago on finding out Thomas had asked Falcone to threaten that journalist, even if Falcone had gone ahead and murdered the guy.

At least his father was going to turn himself in before Falcone had him and his mother murdered to silence them.

Harry had covered up his part in this mess.

"I…she found out", Harry told them, remembering their last ever conversation before she'd been taken. "She was not pleased."

"She was right", Strider said.

"You know what? Yes, I messed up, and I hid it. But, if you let me go and help me save my daughter, I'll come back here, and I'll make it right, I promise", Harry finally said.

"Make it right", Batman snarled, letting him go. "Or I'll come for you."

Suddenly, there was a beeping sound all around, as Harry looked at his meta-human detector, which also passed alerts of meta-human attacks on this world.

"What is it?" Strider inquired.

"A meta-human attack is happening", Harry said, before tapping as he saw some footage, and his eyes widened. "They work for Zoom."

Strider was shocked by what he saw. Two of them looked like Cisco and Caitlin, the former having done his hair differently, with a strange contraption around his eyes, while the latter had hair that were a mix of white and golden, but he could see the bloodlust in her eyes. The third one had flames upon him, looking not too different from how Jax and Stein looked when they fused, though he was not Jax.

Batman was not shocked, as he'd found out about these three during his research. "Cisco's, Caitlin's and Ronnie's doppelgangers."

"They are evil in this world", Strider noted in absolute horror.

"I'll deal with them, maybe we could get something on Zoom", Batman said as he walked off.

"I am coming with you", Strider offered.

"No, I'll do it alone", Batman shook his head, then ran and glided away.

Universe-208, Tatooine

Vizsla could only stare at his lieutenant. "You can't be serious."

"Why not?" Bo-Katan reasoned to the leader of Clan Vizsla. "You've seen him fight. He can handle himself."

"It's not his ability I question, it's whether he would even consider it."

"We gave him a place to rest and heal."

"Reluctantly", Vizsla pointed out. "He knows this, not to mention, he hasn't been the most gracious of guests either."

duch*ess Satine's sister gave him a dull look. "Would you call Saxon and Awaud gracious?" Vizsla scoffed. "Asking won't do any harm."

Vizsla stayed quiet, staring at his helmet before shifting his gaze to where the warrior in question moved in a practiced kata, fast punches and kicks to the air that were a blur to his sight. "Asking will yield no result...unless we offer an incentive."

Landing on his hands and knees after a 540 degree jump, Blade moved his back leg forward, moving into the next position of the Unsu kata only for his hearing to pick up footsteps in the sand, coming closer.

Annoyed at his practice being interrupted, Blade waited for none other than Pre Vizsla himself to approach, but his eyes locked on the sheathed sword in his hands.

Blade's sword.

"I have a proposition for you." Blade said nothing, except shoot his arm out and catch his weapon after Vizsla's throw. "Have a job coming up, and we're undermanned."

"There a part where I'm supposed to care?"

"Care? No, but this may interest you." Blade's brow rose, but he did not react otherwise. "Those wounds of yours have been healed for days. Truthfully, I didn't care, but now I need a man of your talents."

"You have plenty of people."

"Most of them are searching for bounties or scouting for our new base, my forces are divided." Blade remained stoic, to the annoyance of Vizsla. It felt like he was talking to a wall. Time for the wall to crack. "Help me, and I'll take you to whatever planet you want."

The reaction was brief and confided to the eyes, but Vizsla noticed, and it confirmed that Blade was human. He had him.

"Do we have a deal?

Earth-1, Star City

Parker, Eliot and Hunt were stealing the device from Kord Industries that was needed for Ray's device, as Hardison and Felicity were directing them from the base.

"Hello?" Felicity gasped as she and Hardison saw Ray's face again. "Is anyone there?"

"Ray..." Felicity noted.

"Any luck with the schematics?"

"I realize the quantum manifold could present a challenge. Nothing a little late-night shopping at Kord industries couldn't solve", Felicity assured.

"Yeah, and our friends are doing it right now", Hardison added.

"Oh, that's great. Thank you, Felicity. Now we just have to figure out how to—" Ray paused for some reason.

"Ray, you still there?" Felicity inquired, only for her eyes to widen in horror on seeing Damien Darhk's face hovering behind him. "Oh, no."

"Who is that?" Hardison asked her.

"That's Damien Darhk."

Same time

Oliver was discussing strategy with Adrian as the latter told him. "This city, its been having a hard time recently."

"I know, with those militants and all that-"

"Not just them, the murders that happened just a while ago", Adrian reminded Oliver. "This city's murder rate managed to skyrocket. And its pretty obvious there were a bunch of murderers."

"Yeah, this city is shaken up from that", Oliver said sadly.

"Which is why I have a suggestion", Adrian revealed. "A speech."

"What?"

"Yeah, a speech", Adrian told him. "This city needs to see that the man who leads them knows about the problems they're facing. They need to see that their leader not only knows of their problems, but empathizes with them. A leader who shows them that they have a bright light at the end of this dark tunnel, the light being-"

"Me", Oliver realized, remembering Barry's words as well of how he could inspire as Oliver Queen. "I guess you're right about that."

"Yes, I am, because I believe you are the man who can save this city, Oliver", Adrian said while pointing at him. "You just need to make the rest of this city believe the same thing."

"Thank you, Adrian", Oliver said with a smile. "That means a lot."

Then he got a call and saw it was Felicity. "Sorry, I've to take this."

"Its fine", Adrian assured with a shrug as Oliver walked off.

Earth-2, Central City

Reverb, Killer Frost and Deathstorm were causing havoc in the bank, as people were running around, when a Batarang struck Deathstorm from behind in the shoulder, making him gasp as they turned to see Batman there.

"Look who decided to make a trip from Gotham City", Killer Frost quipped as she fired at Batman, and he rolled away to avoid it.

Leaping, he threw his Batarangs, but the three used their powers to deflect those, as Batman made to go up onto the ceiling, but Reverb saw it coming due to his glasses and blasted there, hitting Batman as he fell away.

"I know you're from another Earth!" Reverb taunted Batman. "Your journey here is a waste. I can shatter your entire nervous system without breaking a sweat."

Batman staggered up, barely avoiding a shard thrown by Killer Frost, then trying to avoid a fireball by Deathstorm, though it did sing his shoulder as he grunted a little, but ran off and took cover behind a counter.

Reverb fired just as Batman raised his hand to throw a Batarang, making him retract it at the last second.

"You can't touch this!" Reverb smirked.

"Come out and play, cowl!" Deathstorm added, when Batman threw a Batarang, but not at them.

It flew around, shattering all the lights in the area, before flying back to him, the entire place now cloaked in darkness.

"That was…very stupid", Deathstorm said as his hands lit up with flames, only for a smoke grenade to fall near them, emitting smoke as all three were blinded, and coughed a little as well.

Reverb angrily blasted around the place, only to accidentally hit Deathstorm and Killer Frost both. The former was knocked away as the latter hit the door of the lounge, breaking it as she fell down, groaning.

Batman's silhouette appeared behind Reverb, who tried to turn, but Batman caught his arm, then ripped out the symbol on his own chest, revealing it was actually a Batarang-knife. Using that, he sliced Reverb's tendons on the right arm, disabling it as he screamed in pain, before slashing across his face, getting the glasses that shattered, taking away Reverb's powers to see through Universes. Then, he decked Reverb one more time, sending him kissing dirt.

At that moment, a fireball hit Batman's chest, sending him hurtling to the ground, his armor now scorched and melting.

Attaching the Batarang-knife back to his chest, Batman made a run for it, disappearing in the shadows. Deathstorm started hovering above the ground, his flames lit up as he looked around.

Hearing a motorcycle, he flew out to see the Caped Crusader riding away on that.

Snarling, he followed.

Batman tapped his earpiece. "Reverb is taken care of, Killer Frost escaped. I have nothing to stop Deathstorm."

Noticing a fireball in the rearview mirror, Batman swerved to avoid that.

"There is one way."

Batman's eyes suddenly lit up. "Ronnie and Stein were fused on Earth-1 before as well. That's how they used their powers. Maybe these two need to be split now."

"Yes, now there should be a Quantum splicer on his chest. Go for it."

Batman saw another fireball incoming, and didn't dodge this time. It hit the bike, crashing it as he rolled away painfully, groaning before coming to a stop, unconscious.

Deathstorm landed and smirked at the Caped Crusader. "Not so tough now, are ya?" Chuckling, he reached for the mask. "Now let's see who you really are."

That moment, Batman's eyes snapped open as he threw his palm forwards, attaching something to the splicer. Deathstorm was too shocked by the sudden movement to react, as Batman then kicked his chest, sending him back.

The meta-human noticed a blinking light on his splicer, and tried to burn it off before it exploded, only causing an even larger explosion of fire.

Batman averted his gaze as Earth-2 Ronnie and Earth-2 Stein were split into two.

Groaning, he pushed himself back to his feet, then rushing to Earth-2 Ronnie, lifted him by the collar. "Where is Zoom? Do you know anything?"

"Haven't….seen him in a while", Earth-2 Ronnie groaned before losing consciousness as Batman dropped him.

This meant there was a huge chance Zoom still hadn't recovered, so they'd some time.

He reached for his earpiece. "Call the CCPD, and an ambulance. Then, we'll go ahead."

Earth-1, Central City, STAR Labs

Barry heard the ring tone, then sighed in relief as the call was picked up.

"Hello, Barry?"Patty asked from the other end.

"Hey Patty", Barry greeted her. "I wasn't in today, so just wanted to talk to you."

"Yeah, I noticed. What happened?"Patty inquired

Barry did not want to lie to her, but he wasn't ready to fully tell her everything yet either, so he went with the middle ground.

"I had a bad accident", he finally said. "And I can't move around for a bit, so I'm not in."

"Maybe I could come", Patty offered, Barry smiling at how caring she was. "Bring you something. We could-"

"I appreciate it, Patty, I really do", Barry assured her. "But I don't want to be a burden. Focus on the job."

"…..Right", Patty noted from the other end, then said warmly. "If you change your mind, offer is open."

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you", Barry told her. "When I get better, we'll be making up for this."

"I'll hold you to that",Patty said. "Bye."

"Bye."

Earth-205

Sam and Dean were investigating deaths in a small town shortly before Halloween. Sam entered their motel room and immediately drew his gun, moving forward in an offensive stance, ready to attack. "Who are you?!"

Dean rushed in, and tried to stop Sam. "Sam! Sam, wait! It's Castiel."

Dean puts his hand on Sam's gun and pushed it down, and Sam stood there stunned. "The Angel." Dean spotted another figure in the room, standing by the window.

"Him, I don't know."

Sam looked at Castiel in wonder and a smile crossed his face.

"Hello, Sam", the Angel greeted him.

"Oh my God – er – uh –" Sam stammered over his words. "I didn't mean to – sorry. It's an honor, really, I – I've heard a lot about you." Sam stepped forward and held out his hand to shake Castiel's.

Dean went and closed the door to their room, and Castiel looked at Sam's hand like he wasn't sure what to do with it. Sam shook it a little, and Castiel finally understood and put his right hand in Sam's.

"And I, you. Sam Winchester – The boy with the demon blood." Castiel then added. "Glad to see you've ceased your extracurricular activities."

The other one was still facing the window, but spoke. "Let's keep it that way."

"Yeah, okay, chuckles." Dean looked back at Castiel. "Who's your friend?"

Castiel simply asked. "This the raising of Samhain, have you stopped it?"

"Why?"

"Dean, have you located the Witch?"

"Yes, we've located the Witch", Dean replied.

Castiel asked. "And is the witch dead?"

Sam started. "No, but –"

"We know who it is."

Castiel walked over to the table by the bed. "Apparently the Witch knows who you are too." He picked up a hex bag and showed it to them. "This was inside the wall of your room. If we hadn't found it, surely one or both of you would be dead. Do you know where the Witch is now?"

Dean and Sam exchange a look as the former said. "We're working on it."

"That's unfortunate", Castiel noted.

"You know about the breaches, right?" Sam then asked Castiel, making him and the other Angel turn to him. "Can you tell us more about those?"

"Not important", the other Angel shrugged.

"What?" Dean asked. "We literally met two people a while ago from a different world, who helped us with a case. There's a lot more than just this world out there."

"And we're facing monsters from other worlds too", Sam added. "We can get lots of allies, and lots of enemies as well."

"That is not important right now", Castiel said. "The raising of Samhain is one of the 66 seals."

Dean realized. "So this is about your buddy Lucifer."

"Lucifer is no friend of ours", the other Angel snarled.

"It's just an expression", Dean pointed out.

Castiel said. "Lucifer cannot rise. The breaking of the seal must be prevented at all costs."

Dean shrugged. "Okay, great, well now that you're here, why don't you tell us where the Witch is, we'll gank her and everybody goes home, unless we get more of these visitors! Or we end up being visitors somewhere else!"

Castiel revealed. "We are not omniscient. This Witch is very powerful, she's cloaked even our methods."

Sam started. "Okay, well we already know who she is, so if we work together –"

"Enough of this", the other Angel said.

Dean inquired. "Okay, who are you and why should I care?"

The other Angel turned from the window and looked at Dean.

Castiel revealed. "This is Uriel, he's what you might call a… specialist." Uriel walked toward them.

Dean asked. "What kind of specialist? What are you gonna do?"

Castiel revealed. "You – uh, both of you – you need to leave this town immediately."

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Because we're about to destroy it." Sam and Dean exchanged a worried glance.

Dean was shocked. "So this is your plan, you're gonna smite the whole friggin' town?"

Castiel told them. "We're out of time. This Witch has to die, the seal must be saved."

Sam pointed out. "There are a thousand people here."

"One thousand two hundred fourteen", Uriel said.

Sam inquired. "And you're willing to kill them all?"

Uriel revealed. "This isn't the first time I've… purified a city."

Castiel said. "Look, I understand this is regrettable."

"Regrettable?" Dean asked.

Castiel told them. "We have to hold the line. Too many seals have broken already."

Dean inquired. "So you screw the pooch on some seals and this town has to pay the price?"

Castiel pointed out. "It's the lives of one thousand against the lives of six billion. There's a bigger picture here."

Dean shrugged. "Right, cause you're bigger picture kind of guys."

Castiel said. "Lucifer cannot rise. He does and Hell rises with him. Is that something that you're willing to risk?"

Sam told them. "We'll stop this Witch before she summons anyone. Your seal won't be broken and no one has to die."

Uriel said. "We're wasting time with these mud monkeys." Castiel turned away from Dean to Uriel.

"I'm sorry, but we have our orders."

Sam couldn't believe it. "No, you can't do this, you're Angels, I mean aren't you supposed to – You're supposed to show mercy."

"Says who?" Uriel asked.

Castiel said. "We have no choice."

Dean asked. "Of course you have a choice. I mean, come on, what? You've never questioned a crap order, huh? What are you both, just a couple of hammers?"

Castiel tried to placate them. "Look, even if you can't understand it, have faith. The plan is just."

"How can you even say that?" Sam asked.

"Because it comes from Heaven, that makes it just."

"Oh, it must be nice, to be so sure of yourselves", Dean sneered.

"Tell me something, Dean, when your father gave you an order, didn't you obey?" Castiel asked.

Dean looked at Castiel and took a second. "Well sorry boys, looks like the plans have changed."

Uriel asked. "You think you can stop us?"

Dean started over and stood in Uriel's face. "No, but if you're gonna smite this whole town, then you're gonna have to smite us with it, because we are not leaving. See, you went to the trouble of busting me out of Hell. I figure I'm worth something to the Man upstairs. So you wanna waste me, go ahead, see how he digs that."

Uriel snarled. "I will drag you out of here myself."

Dean shrugged. "Yeah, but you'll have to kill me, then we're back to the same problem. I mean, come on, you're gonna wipe out a whole town for one little Witch. Sounds to me like you're compensating for something." Dean turned back and looked at Castiel. "We can do this. We will find that Witch and we will stop the summoning."

"Castiel!" Uriel said. "I will not let these peop–" Castiel held up his hand at Uriel. "Enough!" He stared at Dean for a second. "I suggest you move quickly."

Earth-1, Star City

Ray's location had been found, and now it was time to put the plan into action. Oliver was outside the building, about to swing his way in, when suddenly two Ghosts struck him with the butts of their guns, knocking him out.

Oliver came to, seeing the two Ghosts chaining him up as Damien appeared, holding his bow and quiver. "Oh, these are nice."

He snapped an arrow into two. "Oops!" He looked at the Ghosts. "Leave us."

They walked off outside after sharing a look, and then one of them stood outside the room while the other one walked to a pad, disabling the security systems. "Guys, package is delivered. Are you all ready?"

"Ready", Laurel and Sara said at the same time, standing side by side.

"Ready", Dig and Thea said as well.

"This is gonna be fun", Parker said, having parachute equipment with her, Hardison in her front, the two together.

"With you and the rest, I've done this stuff quite a bit, but its still scary", Hardison admitted.

"Worry not", Parker assured him, wrapping an arm around his chest to comfort him. "You're with me. Nothing will happen to you."

Hearing her comfort him, Hardison was reassured, and smiled. "I know. You won't let anything happen to me."

Inside the base, Hunt typed more on the pad. "Security system is disabled."

And then, Parker and Hardison leapt off, Parker cheering happily as the parachute appeared, Hardison simply controlling his fear, while they crashed inside through a window, lying down, a Ghost above them.

"You guys all right?" Hunt asked.

"Yeah, this was just warm-up", Parker said as they got up.

"And I'm not dead because of her", Hardison added, the couple chuckling.

"Let's go then", Hunt said as the three made their way.

Sara, Thea, Laurel and Diggle had entered too, and engaged in a firefight with the Ghosts, taking cover as Dig fired back with his gun, getting two of them, while Thea got one with her arrow, and then Sara flipped, kicking one down, and then spinning and elbowing one's face, as Laurel engaged another.

Damien walked to Oliver. "You mind if I take a little peeksie? I mean, I've my suspicions, but I wanna see if I'm right."

Oliver suddenly leapt and kicked Damien back, while ripping out of the chains, then grabbing his bow and quiver, fired an arrow that Damien barely stopped.

"Haven't you learnt anythi-"

The arrow beeped and exploded, sending Damien flying back. "Right, you have."

As he staggered up, the other Ghost kicked him from behind, sending him flying forwards. He took off his mask to reveal Eliot Spencer.

Before Damien could turn back around, Eliot kicked him forwards again into Oliver who spun and kicked his face, sending him staggering back. He tried to turn around but Eliot decked his face, then spun and elbowed it, before kicking his gut, while Oliver grabbed him from behind in a chokehold.

Hunt shot down 2 Ghosts in the way, Parker and Hardison behind him, as they reached where Ray was held, inside what looked like a glass case, Parker noting. "Now we'll have to get past this."

"That's gonna take a while", Ray noted. "Five years and an NSA-grade computer."

"Hey, we're here to save you, gratitude goes a long way", Parker said, shutting him up.

"I have an idea", Hardison said. "We can enlarge him now and break the cube with his size."

Ray realized what could work. "They put mini-cams here with me and those need to draw power from somewhere."

Damien flicked his hand and Eliot was sent flying off, as was Oliver to the other side. He looked at Oliver first. "Now I'm pissed off."

He started choking Oliver with his power, when Eliot kicked him forwards from behind, then Oliver threw something in his face. It was a fletchette, that caused a small explosion of light, blinding him.

When Damien regained sight, Oliver and Eliot were gone.

Hardison used the machine to resize Ray, as he finally broke out of the cube in his suit. They turned to see some Ghosts appear as Hunt shot one down, then another was tranqed from behind, revealing Oliver, while one more was knocked out from behind, revealing Eliot.

They walked forth as Oliver said. "Good to see you, Ray."

"Nice suit", Ray complimented.

"Thanks, though I'm looking for an upgrade", Oliver said.

"Let's get out of here", Eliot told them.

"Yep, best idea", Hunt agreed as they made their way out.

Earth-199999, Sokovia

Zemo put forth schematics of a machine. "This machine brought an alien army to our world a few years ago."

"Where did you get the schematics?" Lex inquired.

"I have connections", Zemo simply said, thinking about the Hydra cell near Novi Grad. They'd posed as SHIELD to get people to volunteer for experiments, but after the Fall of SHIELD, Zemo, via his resources, had found out they were all Hydra.

He hated that they were so near his city, in his own country, but they did not have the manpower to drive Hydra away.

So all he could do was benefit himself from the situation the best he could.

"It is like my machine, only its opening a portal to Space instead of through worlds", Lex noted. "And with a different power source."

Lex suddenly wigged out, and then gasped, holding his chest in pain. "We need to complete it quickly I think."

"That would be for the best", Zemo agreed. "I will gather the materials."

"Some things might need to be worked out, as from what I've looked up, a few of the material used for my machine don't exist in this world", Lex noted, still rubbing his chest.

"I know some people who could build this machine with the required modifications, and could know of what materials to use", Zemo said, deciding he had to recruit the Hydra scientists now. "And I know just how to convince them."

Earth-2

Strider, Batman and Harry were making their way through the forested area of Ascension Cliffs now, about to reach the abandoned station.

Suddenly, they felt really cold, Strider narrowing his eyes. "This does not seem like the weather."

"Frost", Harry realized, as she stepped out from between some trees, smirking.

"Are you here for more fun?" She asked, preparing ice blasts in her hands. "Because I'm really mad!"

She fired at them, as they leapt away to avoid, taking cover. Batman hurled a Batarang but she destroyed it with an ice blast, while Harry fired his rifle but a beam of ice from her countered it, as he took cover again.

"I shall draw her away", Strider told them, then rolled away, getting behind a tree as he fired an arrow at her. She barely dodged, then fired some icicles.

Strider dodged most of them, but one spiking pierced his shoulder, making him grit his teeth before he pulled it out, getting an idea.

He saw Frost moving towards him as she snarled. "I'm gonna get you!"

Strider took off into the woods, disappearing in some foliage, as Frost made her way after him, only to find no trace of him except a few tiny drops of his blood.

Hearing the whistle of an arrow, she looked up and her eyes widened as she barely dodged it, then looked up and saw Strider was gone again.

Then she heard a twig snapping, and turned to that direction, following it, but found no one there, before an arrow fired from behind her struck a tree nearby, making her jump before she turned around, not finding Strider anymore.

She went to the direction she figured the arrow had come from, and found tiny little drops of blood there, and followed those, only to see something on the ground- a ring that had the likeness of two serpents intertwined with eyes made of green jewels, meeting beneath of crown of golden flowers that one upheld and one devoured.

Frost stepped forward, only for her foot to step onto her own ice spike she'd fired at Strider before, as she howled in pain.

Strider had dug a small hole, planted the ice spike inside, hid it with leaves, grass and dirt, then put the Ring of Barahir there to get Frost's attention.

Then, Strider appeared out of nowhere and knocked Frost out with a punch, before lifting up the Ring of Barahir, looking at it reverently as he put it back on his finger.

She might have been a powerful meta-human, but a forest was Strider's element. As a Ranger, he had lived and wandered through forests for years. Killer Frost did not have the slightest chance at victory.

Walking back to where Batman and Harry were, Strider said. "She has been defeated. Let us go to Zoom's lair."

They nodded, walking forth.

Earth-1, Star City

"So, the Multiverse is real, and I missed it?" Ray asked no one in particular. "That sucks, I mean, I'd have loved that-"

"We're still here, man", Hardison raised a hand.

"And that guy is like an American James Bond in real life, even pulls out similar tech", Felicity told Ray about Hunt. "They're still here, you can talk to them."

"Oh yeah, that's gonna be so much fun", Ray looked at Eliot, Parker, Hardison and Ethan.

"Yay", Eliot muttered sarcastically, turning to Hardison. "There are two of you now."

"And I love it!" Hardison smirked.

"Not more than me I hope", Parker pouted.

"Never", Hardison assured her as they shared a kiss.

"So, I made a little decision", Felicity then said, holding out a paper that she put down. "Running a business, not my thing."

"You serious?" Ray asked her.

"Yes, in fact, I'm wondering what you were thinking giving it to me", Felicity said. "I mean, I signed without knowing what it was."

"I guess…" Ray sighed. "I let my optimism and our relationship from a while ago cloud my judgment there."

"Congratulations Ray", Oliver smiled at him. "Its yours again."

"Actually Oliver", Felicity spoke up. "Its both of yours."

"Come again?" Oliver narrowed his eyes.

"The company did belong to your family", Felicity said. "I decided both of you could share its ownership, be partners. Besides Oliver, you're about to be Mayor, owning your company again would help your rep."

"That's…" Oliver trailed off. "Thank you, Felicity, I really appreciate it."

She just nodded, as Ray smiled at her too, then turned to Oliver. "How are you gonna handle that, being Green Arrow, and this Mayor thing at the same time though?"

"About that Ray", Oliver looked at the man. "I was hoping you're more trustworthy than the last business partner I had."

"Oh I assure you, your trust in me won't fail", Ray did a mock salute. "I can run it, and keep you updated."

"I'll keep myself updated and attend it every now and then", Oliver shrugged, as Felicity handed him a pen, then he and Ray signed it one by one, becoming the owners of the business now.

"Be good though", Parker smirked at them both. "Otherwise we'll have to come for you."

"And that ain't pretty", Hardison added.

"Wouldn't want to piss you guys off now, would we?" Oliver chuckled.

"I think you two can do a lot of good this way", Eliot said. "If only more people like the two of you were rich."

"Yeah, all worlds would be better", Hunt muttered. "Anyways, I guess we'll need to go off soon enough."

"I know", Oliver sighed. "Still, you could stay a while, I hope."

"A little longer, yeah", Parker shrugged.

Earth-205

Samhain had been freed, breaking the seal, but the brothers had stopped it.

Dean was now sitting on a park bench watching kids play. Castiel was on the park bench next to him. Dean was looking the other way, but sensed the Angel's arrival. "Let me guess, you're here for the "I told you so".

"No."

"Well, good, cause I'm really not that interested."

"I am not here to judge you, Dean", Castiel said.

"Then why are you here?"

"Our orders –"

Dean cut him off. "Yeah, you know, I've had about enough of these orders of yours –"

"Our orders were not to stop the summoning of Samhain, they were to do whatever you told us to do."

Dean was surprised. "Your orders were to follow my orders?"

Castiel revealed. "It was a test, to see how you would perform under... battlefield conditions, you might say."

"It was a Witch, not the Tet Offensive", Dean said. "So I, uh, failed your test, huh? I get it. But you know what? If you would have waved that magic time-traveling wand of yours and we had to do it all over again, I'd make the same call. 'Cause see, I don't know what's gonna happen when these seals are broken, hell I don't even know what's gonna happen tomorrow. But what I do know is, that this, here? These kids, the swings, the trees, all of it is still here because of my brother and me."

Castiel told him. "You misunderstand me, Dean, I'm not like you think. I was praying that you would choose to save the town."

"You were?" Dean inquired.

"These people, they're all my Father's creations. They're works of art, and yet, even though you stopped Samhain, the seal was broken and we are one step closer to hell on earth, for all creation. Now that's not an expression, Dean, it's literal. You of all people should appreciate what that means."

Dean looked at him a little pained, and sad.

"Can I tell you something if you promise not to tell another soul?"

"Okay", Dean agreed.

Castiel then said. "I'm not a… hammer as you say. I have questions, I have doubts. I don't know what is right and what is wrong anymore, whether you passed or failed here. But in the coming months you will have more decisions to make. I don't envy the weight that's on your shoulders, Dean. I truly don't."

They shared a look, then Dean asked. "Well, I think the portal problem is still a thing. Would it make the rising worse?"

"Focus on the seals", Castiel said, seemingly not registering how bad the portal problem was.

"Okay, what is this? Every time I bring that up, you seem to become someone else entirely", Dean noted.

Castiel then grasped his head, as if in pain, and disappeared, leaving the confused Dean behind.

Earth-2

Strider, Batman and Harry were right outside Zoom's lair now, the former two having climbed up the cliff while helping Harry do the same.

"Zoom is gonna be angry", Batman warned them. "We'll have to keep him that way. He is vindictive, he'll want revenge from us, and he'll want to hurt us."

"So, what do we do?" Harry asked while grunting.

"Endure it", Batman said simply. "The nanobots will protect us from his phasing, but he can kill us in other ways. Wait for my signal."

"What is this signal?" Strider inquired.

"You'll know it when you see it", Batman assured him, as they climbed into the place finally, looking around and seeing how rotted it looked.

Walking further inside, they found a young girl behind some bars, her hands chained up, Strider and Batman knowing this had to be Jesse, while a man in an iron mask was behind a glass cell, tapping it continuously.

"Jesse!" Harry let out as he rushed to her, and held her by the face.

"Daddy?" She cried out with tears of joy. "You're here? Is it really you?"

"Yes, I'm here", Harry assured her as he stepped back, and lifted up the bars, then embraced her tightly as she cried into his chest. "I'm here for you."

Zoom theme plays

Suddenly, a blue blur sped in, grabbing Harry and throwing him off as Jesse screamed in horror, the man in the iron mask looking very distressed as well.

Zoom stood there, glaring at the three of them. "You made a mistake coming here."

He ran at Batman, trying to phase his fist through him, only to be pushed back, as Batman smirked at him.

Roaring, Zoom grabbed Batman by the collar and hurled him away, as Strider took out his sword, but Zoom rammed into him, sending him flying off and his sword falling too.

He then grabbed Harry, lifting him up by the collar, and punched his gut thrice, before throwing him into the wall again, while Strider aimed an arrow, but Zoom sped and snatched his bow while cutting the strap of his quiver, making it fall and spilling the arrows everywhere.

Then he struck Strider's face with his own bow and he fell down once more.

Turning around, he grabbed another Batarang that Batman had thrown, and rushing to him, pinned him to the wall by the throat, then stabbed his side with it as he grunted. "I told you, that you're next."

He punched Batman in the gut many times as he spat out blood while gasping, and then he threw him down.

Strider was getting up but Zoom sped into him again and sent him crashing to the ground.

"The three of you will pay for what you've done", Zoom sneered, punching Batman again as he spat blood onto the ground. "Now, you die!"

Batman suddenly threw something at Zoom, who dodged easily, but the thing attached to the wall, revealing a circular device.

Zoom loomed over the downed hero. "Is that all you got?"

"It's all I need."

The device suddenly blinked red and fired a hook into Zoom's shoulder from behind, making him roar in pain as it pulled him into the wall.

"Strider!" Batman threw the blade from his chest to the Ranger, who was back up and close.

Strider caught it and quickly stabbed Zoom's knee, then pulled out, only to thrust the jagged blade into the murderer's abdomen, dragging it across, allowing blood to flow out, as Zoom continued to roar and howl in agony.

Continuing to scream, the speedster charged electricity in his fist and struck down Strider, then vibrated free of the hook, only for a recovered Harry to fire the pulse rifle, and it directly hit Zoom as he screamed loudly, falling near the edge as Harry continued to fire at him, bringing more of the pain.

Growling, Zoom vibrated himself, resisting the pain, and vibrated his hand really fast, trying to hurl a lightning bolt at Harry.

There was a flash of steel, and then Zoom howled in utter agony as blood sprayed everywhere, his arm having been chopped off.

He'd still not fully recovered, and in his rage, he'd been so focused on Harry he hadn't paid attention to Strider, who'd recovered his sword, and sneaking close, had used it to chop off Zoom's arm before he could hurl the lightning bolt.

Zoom looked at his stump in horror as he continued to scream, blood spraying out while Strider looked at him. The speedster tried to stand up, but his wounded knee did not support him, and he lost footing, plummeting down from the cave below as his screams continued to be heard, until they drowned out.

"Did you get him?" Jesse asked in a whimper, as Strider turned around, Batman staggering up too.

"With people like him, its never a guarantee", Batman said as he walked to Jesse, and grasping the chains, held them up for Strider, who brought his bloodied sword down, breaking the chains, freeing Jesse.

"Daddy!" She cried out, running to him and hugging him. "I…I….."

"Its okay Jesse, I'm here now", Harry assured her, not letting her go.

Strider looked at the man in the iron mask, and inquired. "Who is he?"

Parting from her father, Jesse said. "I don't know, but he has been here from way before I was here. I think he has been trying to talk to me. Zoom beat him up a few times too."

"I believe we should free him", Strider turned to Batman.

Batman walked to the glass, and sprayed some kind of gel on it, then stepped back, before telling the man. "Step away from the glass."

The man complied, and then the gel caused the glass to explode, shattering it into pieces.

"You're free now", Harry told the man, who stepped out of the glass, looking at all of them, appreciation in his eyes.

"What manner of helmet is this?" Strider asked.

"I think its something to prevent him from talking and…other things", Harry realized. "Come with us, we'll help you."

And with that, the group of rescuers and rescued people started making their way back.

Earth-199999, New York City, Avengers Tower

Tony flew back into the Tower, his suit coming off as he walked forth, when he heard JARVIS' voice. "We have two visitors outside sir."

"Give me the view", Tony said, and then he saw two men outside, one tall, one medium-sized, knocking at the door.

"Uh, hi. We're here because of Captain America", the taller one said.

"He fell into one of those portal things. I'm sure you're aware", the medium-sized one added.

"Send them in", Tony said immediately.

Few minutes later

Tony looked at Bobby and Piotr in front of him, as the former was saying. "So, we came to help Captain America against the giant….creature."

"It climbed a building, so Cap asked me to throw him at it. I did, the creature died, then both fell into a portal", Piotr finished. "And, we're mutants. He is Bobby Drake, I am Piotr Rasputin, from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters."

"The X-Men", Tony noted.

"You know?" Bobby asked.

"Alcatraz", Tony shrugged. "That incident is well-known. But anyways, thank you for coming. Now tell me where this portal is."

Earth-1, Central City, STAR Labs

The breach started acting up, as Barry sped into the room, with Cisco, Caitlin, Joe, Iris and Henry Allen soon following.

And then, Strider and Batman leapt out of the breach, followed by Harry holding Jesse, and then the man in the iron mask came out as well.

"I see you are walking once more", Strider noted to Barry.

"Running actually", Barry smiled, turning to Henry. "Had some help there."

"I do not think we have met", Strider said.

"Meet my father", Barry revealed, as Henry held out his hand.

"I'm Henry Allen", he said, and Strider shook his hand.

"I am Strider", he simply replied, as Caitlin walked to Jesse.

"I'm sure you need to be checked up", she noted, going into doctor mode. "Come with me."

"She does need to be treated, yes", Strider nodded, as Caitlin and Harry led Jesse away gently.

"Who is he?" Cisco asked, gesturing to the man in the iron mask, who was staring at Henry weirdly, tilting his head.

"Someone else Zoom had prisoner, Harry says the iron mask is stopping him from talking and other things", Batman told Cisco.

"I'm sure we can fix that", Cisco shrugged.

"How was it here while we were gone?" Strider inquired.

"Nothing much, just dealt with a telepathic gorilla", Joe shrugged.

"What is telepathic?" Strider inquired.

"It has a power to get into your mind", Barry explained, Strider nodding in understanding. "But its in ARGUS custody now. Authorized prison, like you said."

Strider simply gave a slight smile at that, when Cisco looked at his bloodstained sword. "Whoa! Whose blood is that?"

"Zoom", Strider revealed. "He was trying to strike Wells with lightning, so I chopped off his arm after having wounded his knee and stomach. He fell from a cliff."

"Whoa!" Cisco commented. "Guess he is dead, or will bleed out to death. Well, that's our problem solved."

"Yeah, we don't have to worry about him now", Barry nodded as well.

"Don't make assumptions until you see a body", Batman warned them. "Though his meta-human lackies are dealt with."

Before making their way to Ascension Cliffs, Harry had called a tip to get the unconscious Killer Frost arrested as well. Now, they were all down.

"Many enemies would lie in wait for a moment of weakness before striking. Do not fall for that trap", Strider warned Barry and Cisco as well.

"So, what now?" Cisco wondered.

"Treating Jesse, taking off this guy's mask", Barry gestured to the man in the iron mask. "Then finding a way back to his world." He turned to Strider. "And yours."

Strider smiled at Barry, and nodded. "I am very grateful for that, my friend."

"No", Barry shook his head. "We're the ones grateful to you." He turned to Batman. "As well as you."

Star City

Oliver, in his suit (not the Green Arrow suit), stood in front of the various people and reporters at the podium, lights flashing on him, as he smiled, sharing a smile with Thea, and a look with Adrian.

"Our city hasn't been having a good time recently", Oliver said, his face grim. "There have been many murders, and I understand that its causing fear amongst all of us."

Then, he carried on. "But, I'm here to tell you all- we will not be scared anymore!"

As all watched him, he said. "People like these, whether they've been corrupt one-percenters, or deranged psychopaths, they have tried to hold this city down for too long. An we can't let them do that. Not anymore. We have to show these people, that we are not scared of them now! All of us, we have to come together, and break this city from the hold of such people, and then we can achieve greatness!"

The chord was struck with the people, as they started clapping and cheering for Oliver, who smiled.

Suddenly, one person's phone beeped, and then another's, and eventually, the phones of all reporters and civilians were beeping. They took out their phones, and were all horrified at what they saw.

Oliver's phone beeped too, and he took it out, looking at it.

It was an image, of a brutalized body hanging from some wires, and the body belonged to Takeo Yamashiro! His face was the only thing left unscathed, and that was clearly to give Oliver a message.

Whoever had done this, he was coming for him now.

Unseen to everyone, Adrian, while acting like he was covering his face in horror, smirked.

Oliver was supposed to give this speech to unite the people, get rid of their fear. Now, the people of this city were more scared than ever, right after Oliver himself had started giving them hope, all because of his own past.

"What the…?" Hardison trailed off in horror, sharing looks with Eliot, Parker, Hunt, Sara, Dig, Ray, Laurel and Felicity.

Whoever had done this, he was clearly not planning to mess around.

Earth-199999, New York City

Tony, in his suit, hovered some distance above where the portal was supposed to be, according to Bobby and Piotr.

"So, this is it, J?" Tony inquired.

"I detect the wormhole's energy signature here, sir", JARVIS confirmed.

"Well then, time to bring Cap back", Tony said as he flew towards the breach, and it appeared, only for him to be pushed back suddenly by an invisible force. "What the…?"

"Some unknown form of energy seems to be pushing us back, sir", JARVIS revealed.

"Ah, this always has to happen!" Tony groaned. "Guess its time to modify the IDIOT, make it bigger, and force this thing open."

Unknown Universe, Unknown world

Steve continued to walk. It had been hours now, maybe even a day, he'd lost count by this point. All he could do was walk in the dark, in an area populated by trees, but he could make out signs of a battleground here.

There were scorch marks in the surroundings and indents in the ground where bodies once were. Steve stared down at a particular spot, blinking once, and opened his eyes again to see a young man wearing an olive green uniform lying on the wet sand, clutching at the blood leaking from the wound in his gut as he screamed for help.

He blinked again, the young soldier was gone, and Steve was back on the shadowy alien planet. Steve had to shake his head to get rid of such thoughts, there was no time to rethink the past, no matter how much he was getting reminded of it.

Fortunately, a high-pitched shriek stole the Captain's attention. Unfortunately, as Steve tilted his head up, his eyes found a pair of glowing green birds in the distance, and they were coming closer, allowing his enhanced sight to see they were definitely not birds. They were large and winged, but almost crustacean-like in appearance, with two very large claws that did not look friendly.

And they were coming right for him.

Steve grabbed his shield and hurled it at the closest creature, striking it as the Super Soldier leapt to a tree and pushed off towards the second flying predator, but not before activating the magnet in his arm to recall his shield just into time to bash it against the bird-creature's face.

The collision forced the enhanced human and creature to the ground, the latter snapping its teeth and trying to reach its would-be prey with his claws, only to be held back by Vibranium. With cold efficiency, Steve punched the creature under the jaw to stun it before raising his shield up and bringing it down with enough force to slice through the skin, spraying green blood on the ground and partly on Steve's suit.

Hearing the other one coming back for more, Steve was about to charge forwards to the creature, only for blue lasers bolts to come from the side like bullets and hit the thing, sending it crashing to the ground with a whimper before it lay unmoving.

Looking from the dead alien animal to the source of the lasers, Steve found a blue/white armored humanoid, a white helmet with a blue emblem across the material, with a kind of gun Steve had never seen before, pointing right at him.

"Hold it!"

The voice was male, and Steve slowly raised his hands to not be threatening, moving away from the green blood and corpse he'd made. Whoever the blue/white armored person was, he seemed like a soldier, by his stance, how he handled the gun, and if the emblem was anything to go by, possibly the symbol of his faction.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm afraid I'm a little lost."

The person looked at Steve, unsure of him, especially due to how he was dressed and what he was carrying.

He tilted his head. "You do realize there's a war going on?"

"The explosions kind of give it away."

The blue/white armored soldier looked the human up and down, his helmet hiding the confusion of what kind of suit he was wearing, before speaking again. "What's your business here in the first place?"

"Originally, none. I don't know how I got here. I was fighting some creature in one city, then next thing I know, I'm stuck here with those things," Steve pointed to the now dead alien animals, "trying to make me a snack."

"How do I know you're not just an Umbaran spy?"

Steve withheld his questions on what an "Umbaran" was to speak sincerely. "You don't. I can only give you my word that I am not your enemy, nor do I intend to become one."

Whatever was running through the soldier's mind, Steve thought the man believed him. The man with the laser gun sighed and lowered his weapon. "I need to call this in."

"I understand." Steve nodded, keeping a respectable distance with his hands in the air, watching as the soldier tapped something on his wrist, a green light appearing as he spoke to what he assumed was a wrist communicator.

"Captain Rex."

At the ridge where the 501st made trenches for their troops to rest after the taxing landing upon the shadowy service of Umbara, Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, stared out across the dark world of the Umbarans.

The initial battle was costly, the native militia possessed weapons that so far neither Anakin nor his troops had encountered before. He feared what other tricks the Umbarans had up their sleeves and how they could impact the campaign, but more importantly, what harm they could do to his men.

But Umbara was a vital supply route, one that the Republic needed to possess the strategic advantage, and so, Anakin and his Clones were called to action, ready to do their duty. Plus, he really wanted to get his hand one of those starfighters.

However, as he gazed across the alien world, images flashed in Anakin's mind.

A shield.

A symbol of a star.

A man clad in blue, white, and red, but he couldn't make out the face.

The sudden influx of images caused the Jedi to clutch his temple and groan, earning the attention of his first in command. "General?"

"I'm okay Rex, just a lot on my mind."

"That's never a good thing", his captain joked, which Anakin appreciated. Rex' expression turned serious. "You seem to be distracted lately, sir, even before the landing."

"Well, you're not wrong", Anakin told his comrade who had seen many of the same battles. "I've been feeling a lot of, I don't know what to call it, disturbances I suppose, visions clouding my mind. Can't make any sense of it."

"Could it be a Sith trick?" Rex guessed. His knowledge of the Force and those who wielded it was limited to what he'd seen and heard from the Jedi.

Anakin shook his head. "No, this is something else. Something more."

Then a call came to them on the commlink.

"Sir."

"What is it, trooper?" Rex inquired of Jesse.

"I have a civilian here. Or well, not a civilian exactly."

"Umbaran?"

"No, human. He's not exactly dressed...normally." Rex and Anakin shared a confused look.

"Is he armed?"

"A….slugthrower I think, and a metal shield." Anakin's eyes widened.

"A shield?" Rex questioned, unaware of his General's look.

"Bring him to the camp", Anakin ordered, to his first-in-command's surprise.

"Are you sure, sir?"

"Something tells me we should meet this stranger." While Rex spent much time with the General, he was still a Jedi, and they always confused him.

"Alright. You heard him, Jesse, bring him to the ridge."

"Yes, sir."

Steve patiently waited, but kept his eyes on the skies, not just for more of the flying creatures, but from the explosions that filled the air above and in the distance.

"The General wants to see you. Follow me."

"Very well." Steve got closer, but the white/blue armored trooper held a hand up.

"I'm gonna need the weapon."

Steve never needed a gun, nor did he particularly like using them, even in the war, but he did not wish to be seen as hostile. Using his left hand, having equipped his shield to his back, he pulled the gun out slowly and offered it to the soldier, who examined it through his visor, tilting it in his hand in a way that Steve thought he was confused.

"A slugthrower?"

Raising a brow at the term, Steve hesitantly replied. "It's a pistol."

"Don't usually see these around the galaxy", Jesse commented but lowered his blaster and the gun, gesturing toward the camp where the 501st rested, the strangely dressed man complying.

It didn't take long before they already started to see the walkers when the stranger talked. "My name is Steve, Steve Rogers."

Hmm, seems friendly, Jesse thought. His tone or body language didn't portray any hostility, he gave up his pistol without issue, he could at least share his name. "Jesse."

"Pleasure to meet you."

A small, surprised snort escaped him, but he responded. "Likewise."

Chapter 13: Brothers

Chapter Text

Earth-1, Star City

Oliver and Eliot leapt from rooftop to rooftop until they were close to the place Hardison had tracked Warner's phone to, this phone being what had sent Takeo's corpse's image.

"Status on Warner's cell phone?" Oliver asked.

"It's still holding at Aparo and Puckett", Hardison informed. "This is one well-travelled cell phone considering its owner was killed on the other side of town a while ago."

"The guy is playing a sick game", Eliot noted.

The two were now inside the construction site.

The two walked around a little until they heard a cell phone ringing, and walked to the direction, finding flames lit up nearby as well.

They looked at the phone on the ground. 'Unknown Caller' flashed on the screen. Oliver picked it up and answered the call.

"Who is this?" He asked.

In reply, they heard some heavy breaths from the other side.

Eliot and Oliver shared a look.

The caller hung up and the flames went out. Suddenly, some flames erupted near them and formed the words-So it Begins.

Later, the lair

"So, HIVE wants to make this a dead city", Hunt noted after telling Oliver and Eliot about the money burning. "And now there's this guy, who went through luring you to that place just to say its gonna begin."

"He is obsessed with wanting me dead", Oliver sighed. "So much that he killed Takeo for trying to do it."

"Well, you have enemies all around", Eliot told him. "At least some are down. Now its this guy, and Damien Darhk."

"This man, whoever he is, he has sent the city into a panic as well", Oliver commented. "And he did that right during my speech."

"The people had a hope spot", Hardison muttered.

"And now its gone", Parker realized.

"He is playing with us", Sara said. "Like a predator plays with their prey, but what is he getting at?"

"Got a minute?" Diggle suddenly asked Oliver, who nodded. Diggle put a file on the table, that Oliver read through, while seeing photos of Andy Diggle, that surprised him.

"Where did you get this?" Oliver asked Diggle.

"From Lance, who got it from Damien Darhk", Diggle confirmed.

"And it looks like pretty definitive evidence-"

"That HIVE had him killed because his criminal operations conflicted with theirs", Dig finished.

"It doesn't track with what you've told me of him", Oliver noted.

"It doesn't track with what I knew of him", Diggle agreed. "Guess I never knew him at all."

"Looks like this is something else to look into", Oliver realized.

"Sometimes, people just change, because they do not think the right way is getting them anywhere", Hunt said sadly, thinking of the man he'd known as Jim Phelps.

He'd found out that man had never been the real Jim Phelps in the first place. He was another agent, who'd similar planning methods to Phelps, and had a passing resemblance to him.

So the IMF had made him Jim Phelps to throw anyone off the real one's scent, who'd seemingly died after a stroke, and the IMF did not want anyone else knowing that for good reason. Unfortunately for them, the new 'Phelps' had lacked the real Jim Phelps' moral compass, and turned against the IMF.

He'd died, without anyone even knowing what his real name was. Hunt had only found out about the real Jim Phelps after the fake one's funeral, but the real one was seemingly dead as well due to a stroke.

Hunt wished he could have met him. That one was a true hero.

But that was all in the past, because now, they needed to focus on Damien and this Throwing Star killer.

"Also, can you look into this cyanide tooth?" Diggle held it up for Hardison.

"Oh yeah, that can be done", Hardison shrugged as he took it.

Quentin then walked in, asking Oliver. "Got any leads on whoever sent the recording of the body?"

"It's the Throwing Star killer, but he used Warner's phone", Oliver revealed, while Eliot, Parker and Hardison stared at Quentin, then looked amongst themselves, very weirded out.

Quentin noticed their looks. "What?" He turned to Oliver. "Your new friends have a problem with me or what?"

"I don't think so", Oliver said as he turned to the Leverage crew. "Right?"

"He is a bad guy on our Earth!" Parker gestured to Quentin, which surprised him.

"Really?" He wondered. "Okay, I think I need to go rest my eyes now."

"Setting a bad example for your daughters, huh daddy?" Sara joked, making him chuckle a bit as Laurel just smiled.

"He is a doppelganger, guys. I saw Tara Cole's doppelganger on a TV before", Eliot revealed, to their surprise.

"Also, Captain, he sent us a message saying 'So it begins' in flames after we found the phone", Oliver revealed.

"Well, he is about to start something", Hunt muttered.

"So, what begins?" Oliver wondered, thinking of the message.

Later, Campaign office

"Okay, so the last one was a bust", Adrian said with a sigh as he walked with Oliver. "Through no fault of ours I might add."

"I know Adrian, I know", Oliver agreed.

"But now, because of that, what the city is experiencing is the opposite of what they were supposed to experience", Adrian explained. "So we better find a way to say the police need our help without throwing them under the bus."

"I might have a way for that", Oliver shrugged.

"And there's the program for cleaning the bay", Adrian realized. "Planning to be there yourself?"

"Planning to do some cleaning myself", Oliver revealed.

"That's actually good", Adrian agreed. "The people will see you actually stand level with them on such issues, instead of just saying you do. I'll be there too I assure you."

"Thank you, Adrian", Oliver said with a smile.

"Now, there is still the crime to deal with", Adrian said. "The people in this city are now more scared than ever."

"The last time I gave a speech, well, you know what happened", Oliver pointed out.

"I know, which is why let's put it on a backburner for now and see what else needs to be done before going out for another", Adrian said, Oliver not disagreeing. "Though there is the police one still."

"Right", Oliver said with a nod, before getting a message, that made him narrow his eyes. "Sorry, something important has come up."

"No issues", Adrian waved him off as Oliver walked away.

Later, the lair

Oliver now allowed his team to go out on missions without him, as long as Sara, Eliot or Hunt were calling the shots.

They'd gone out to get a sample of the chemical on the tooth, but, there, Diggle had found out his brother Andy was alive, and he was a Ghost.

"Nothing makes sense to me anymore", Diggle said while shaking his head.

"Seems like HIVE faked his death", Oliver noted. "Which must have been part of his recruitment."

"Oliver, you saw what kind of man my brother was in the file", Diggle pointed out.

"He never said your brother was a saint", Eliot shrugged. "Besides, we don't really know anything for certain."

"We'll have to hear it directly from Andy", Oliver agreed.

"How are you gonna do that?" Felicity inquired.

"We're gonna get him out of HIVE", Hunt realized.

"But why?" Diggle asked. "You can see what-"

"Its not just because he is your brother and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt", Oliver explained. "We'll get him, then see what kind of man he really is, and also get info on what HIVE and Darhk are planning."

"Good plan", Eliot agreed with a nod.

"Yep, just need to get to the part of making it and executing it", Parker added.

"Well then, let's get to working", Sara smirked.

Central City

Barry was walking through the Labs, just glad to be on his feet again. Harry and Cisco were working on the mask of Zoom's other prisoner right now.

"Barry."

Barry jumped, then turned to see Batman walking out of the shadows. "Oh, you've got to stop doing that, man."

Batman didn't respond to that, and simply said. "On Earth-2, I researched some things, like my doppelganger, and yours."

"Really?" Barry asked. "Find anything interesting?"

"Your doppelganger is a normal CSI", Batman said with a shrug. "And he is married to the Iris West of his Earth, who happens to be a Detective."

"Whoa!" Barry was surprised. "I'm married to Iris in that world, huh?" Hearing he was married to Iris not just in the future, but also on Earth-2, it made Barry wonder for a brief second if they were supposed to be together or something.

"If you have any ideas of being in a relationship with her because of this, let it go", Batman said coldly, bringing Barry back to reality. "What we do requires sacrifice. Dedication. She isn't built for this life."

"You don't even know her!" Barry snapped.

"I know you've been in love with her for years and she never showed interest until you were struck by lightning." That froze Barry. "Can you tell me, without a shred of doubt, that she'd put the lives and needs of both you and others, above her own desires and needs?"

Barry was silent, and Batman got his answer, walking off. While Batman had not been that kind to him, Barry noted that he'd at least never held anything back from him (besides his identity), no matter how painful the truth could be.

Hearing this, he began to reflect on Iris' personality, as well as Patty's. While he was only getting to know her, what Batman had said, about someone putting others' lives over her own, he felt Patty understood that far better, as she was a cop.

Earth-199999, Sokovia

Zemo and Lex watched as a portal to Lex's Earth finally opened up, the Hydra scientists looking awed at what was happening too.

"It can only work for one travel", Zemo explained. "So you better get back fast, and make a plan on your end, while I shall do the same here. And fix the machine."

"Thank you", Lex turned to Zemo, then held out his hand. "I will be back very soon, and then we can expand our team."

"I look forward to working with you, Mr. Luthor", Zemo nodded, as he shook Lex's hand. "We shall show everyone we are their saviors, not these clowns in masks and capes."

"Exactly my sentiments", Lex agreed.

They shared one last look, and then Lex walked into the portal, disappearing into it as it closed, the machine dying down.

"We did it!" One scientist cheered happily.

"Indeed, you all did it", Zemo agreed, then taking out his gun, shot him in the head, killing him, as the others gasped in horror.

But that was all they could do, as Zemo shot them all down in quick succession too.

No loose ends!

New York City, Avengers Tower

"You couldn't fly through it?" Bobby asked, confused.

"Yeah, it just seemed to push me back", Tony said in reply. "I'm not sure why, I guess there's some sort of barrier there, which I haven't figured out yet."

"Well, what now?" Piotr wondered.

"Now…" Tony started, then stopped as Thor, Banner, Natasha and Clint arrived. "Oh, hey guys!"

"We came as soon as we heard", Natasha immediately got down to it. "Where is the breach?"

"I tried going through, it pushed me back", Tony said quickly.

"How did that come to be, Stark?" Thor inquired.

"There's some sort of barrier, I do not know why though", Tony said with a sigh.

"Can you do something about it?" Clint asked.

"I mean, these are still forces beyond what any of us have understood", Banner pointed out. "So, its gonna take a while."

"The barrier, it could be anything", Thor said as he looked out at the sky. "There are powerful forces, in this Universe and beyond, that are beyond all of us. I've seen some of them in the past. So, if we have to get through that barrier, it can be quite hard."

"Whatever we need to do, we've to do it quickly", Natasha said, sounding worried rather than monotone like she usually did, as she looked at Bobby and Piotr. "Thank you for bringing this to us quickly."

"It's the least we could have done", Piotr simply said. "We are-"

"I know who you are", Natasha said, sharing a look with Clint. "We looked through the footage and files."

"Good work by all of you", Clint complimented them.

"My idea is", Tony then said. "We'll have to modify the IDIOT, and make it bigger, to try and open another way to wherever Cap is."

"Chance of success would still be below 50%", Banner pointed out to Tony.

"We won't know until we try my friend", Tony said as he walked towards his lab. "Come on guys."

Earth-1, Star City

"Hey, wait, if the Ghosts are wearing their usual Halloween costume, then how are we supposed to tell which one's Andy?" Thea asked, standing on the rooftop with Oliver, Eliot, Parker, Hunt, Sara and Laurel.

"That's what your fancy new cameras are for", Hardison said from the comms. "A little gift from me. Infrared lenses should virtually unmask our ghosty friends."

"Sick", Laurel smirked.

"So, are you all gonna begin?" Felicity asked.

"Yeah", Oliver nodded as he and Thea fired their arrows and swung away, Eliot holding onto Oliver as Hunt and Parker glided into the area, while Sara and Laurel jumped down as well.

As they got into positions, Oliver and Eliot saw some Ghosts loading crates, Oliver telling the rest. "This isn't just a base of operations. It looks like a staging area."

"For what?" Hardison asked.

"Equipment. Military crates marked G6:5", Eliot said. "Does that mean anything?"

"Maybe they're playing bingo."

"Let's assume that's not it."

"Deadly bingo."

"We need to get an ID on Andy", Oliver said. "When we do, you wait for my signal before engaging."

"Yeah, I might not have that option", Thea said, seeing Ghosts come closer to her position.

"Speedy?"

"She's been spotted, third floor, southwest building", Hardison noted.

"We've been spotted too", Laurel said as she whacked two Ghosts, while Sara kicked one down and elbowed one into the wall, then smacked one more down with her staff as Laurel struck another's feet.

Thea kicked one Ghost, then engaged him and another. "Waiting on confirmation."

In the lair, Hardison and Felicity noted Thea was fighting Andy as the latter said. "That's him, you got him, the one on your right."

"Actually, he's got me!" Thea grunted while being held in a chokehold, pushing herself back as he was rammed into a wall. Freeing herself, she twisted his hand and kicked him, before he pushed her back and kicked her, then tried to strike as she weaved away into a lift.

He came inside, striking with a knife as she blocked twice, then kicked him while the lift went down, and opened, Andy kicking her out, but as he walked out, Parker kicked him right on the face from a side, knocking him out.

"We'll stay here with him", Hunt said, aiming a gun at the unconscious Andy.

"I'll check for anyone, then be back", Thea said, then walked off.

Outside, Oliver kicked one Ghost down, then smacked another away before shooting a third, while Eliot elbowed another out, then punched one's gut, winding him.

And then, Ray Palmer in the ATOM suit flew in, taking down many Ghosts and then landing on the ground as some Ghosts tried to fight him, but couldn't affect him, while he simply punched them away with his suit's power, and his armor deflected the bullets.

"Seen something like that before", Eliot noted, reminding of Tony Stark's Iron Man armor, which this one resembled, though it didn't look as good.

Thea was scouting, when she saw Damien Darhk himself in her way. "It's Merida. Aren't you out a little bit past your bedtime?"

Thea turned around, only to see Damien there now. "I've seen something of your fighting style. You were trained by Ra's al Ghul. Tell me-how is Malcolm doing these days?" He put his hand to her chest, slowly draining her.

Suddenly, an arrow hit him from behind as he gasped, and pulled it out, but it exploded, sending him flying away and knocking him out.

Thea gasped, then saw a man dressed a lot like her brother in his Green Arrow suit lowering his bow, his mask covering his entire face.

Seeing the throwing stars on him, Thea realized who he was.

Taking out her katana, she struck, but he blocked with his blade, then kicked her back. Thea tried to kick him, but he dodged, and elbowed her face, staggering her back, before she spun and tried to strike him with her bow.

He blocked, then did the movement himself, whacking her as she was sent back, and then he kicked her in the way she'd tried to kick him, throwing her down.

He held his blade over her, only for a gunshot to ring out, disarming him, and he turned to see Hunt aiming his gun at him.

Hunt tried to fire again as he dodged by rolling and threw his shuriken, disarming Hunt, then he rolled and kicked Hunt, sending him flying back.

Raising his blade, he leapt at Hunt to strike him, but Hunt rolled away, and kicked his face, sending him back. Then he got up and ran at the Throwing Star killer, lifting him and throwing him through a column.

Then he tried to reach for his gun, only for the Throwing Star killer to run at him in the same way, then lift him, and throw him off, as Hunt groaned.

Looking between Thea and Hunt, he threw a flashbang grenade to the ground as they shut their eyes, and then he was gone.

Outside, Oliver shot down another Ghost, and whacked another, while Eliot kicked one more down, as Ray flew in to help Parker carry away Andy.

One Ghost aimed at Oliver suddenly, only for a gunshot to ring out as he went down, and Oliver and Eliot saw Diggle lowering his gun.

"My brother needed me", Diggle said, then added. "The green one."

Earth-199999, New York City

Tony, now in his suit again, was on a building close to the breach into which Steve had fallen, with Thor, Natasha, Clint, Banner, Bobby and Piotr behind him.

In front of them was a machine Tony had made with help from Banner, a larger version of IDIOT, this one having different features.

"Now, its recalibrated", Tony said. "So that it reads the frequency coming from that portal, and makes a new one that opens a portal to that same world."

"Will this work?" Natasha asked, sounding worried.

"We won't know unless we try", Tony said with a shrug, and then activated the machine.

A beam shot out of it, and struck the empty space, slowly forming what looked like a breach here.

"Its working", Clint said, Thor twirling Mjolnir as he prepared to fly into the breach by himself.

"Just a little more", Banner muttered, when suddenly, the machine seemed to fizzle out, and the portal that had formed closed by itself, fading away.

"What just happened?" Bobby inquired.

"This….this wasn't supposed to happen", Tony said in disbelief. "This can't happen!" And then he fired the machine again, as it struck the empty space, and a portal started forming, but it fizzled out even faster now, the portal fading away. "Damn it!"

"Why isn't it working?" Piotr wondered.

"The machine was recalibrated to focus on the frequency of this breach", Banner explained. "But we don't have anything tangible from there, so it's a lot harder."

"Come on!" Tony said, firing it one more time, but this time the portal faded away as soon as it started forming.

Thor sensed something from the breach that was already there, the one through which Steve had fallen, and twirling Mjolnir, flew towards it, just hovering near it, as he held out his hand, the breach briefly appearing as he touched it, and felt it, sensing what was there.

"It is an ancient energy", Thor said, with eyes closed. "Very ancient. As old as all the Universes. Whatever this world is, it seems to exist there in abundance."

"I will get there", Tony said, firing once more, but this time the portal faded before it could even start opening. And then he tried once more, but nothing happened, only fizzling sounds coming from the machine.

"What do we do now?" Natasha wondered, sounding distressed. "Our proposed way into this world did not work."

"No use kicking a dead horse, Stark", Clint said to him sadly. "I'm sure that big brain of yours can think of something else."

"I am out of ideas, what have you got now?" Banner asked Tony, who was deep in thought.

"Maybe we can get in contact with the Mansion", Bobby offered.

"Yeah, Hank could try and help perhaps", Piotr agreed there. "I mean, this isn't exactly his area of expertise, but-"

"Expertise", Tony's eyes suddenly lit up. "I know someone who can help us in this case."

Universe-208, Umbara

It wasn't long before Steve and Jesse made it to the ridge. The super soldier eyed the metal contraption on the edge of the trenches that looked like they were meant to be ridden, along with the numerous other soldiers clad in similar armor to Jesse, the only difference was some had different blue marks, some had different helmets, those ones Steve noted hovered near those machines, and some wore no helmets.

That was what really took Steve's attention.

Every man that Steve passed by in the trench had the exact same face. The only difference was hair style, either they had black hair in crew cuts, bald, or even a manbun, a few had tattoos, each one had the exact same facial features.

The identical soldiers watched Steve warily, due to him being a stranger and his staring, Steve supposed. Either they seemed to be resting or were at attention with their weapons at the ready at the edge of the trenches, the same kind of weapon Jesse had or larger, rifle-like ones.

Jesse noticed his expression. "What, never seen a Clone before?"

Clones, so that's what they were. "No, can't say I have."

Jesse turned to him, asking in surprise, "What kind of rock have you been living under?"

Steve could not help but snort, "A rock called Earth."

Before Jesse could respond, another Clone passed their way and stopped in front of them. His helmet was off, so Steve could see this one looked different from most of the others who usually sported the crew cuts.

This Clone's hair was shirt and slicked back with a widow's peak, a V-shaped tattoo going over the left half of his face. His armor had blue stripes down the arms like most of the others, but a blue downward pointing triangle taking up a good deal of the chest piece.

"Who is this?"

"Easy, Dogma." Jesse lifted up his helmet, revealing to Steve the same face he'd seen on the ridge, but bald, and with the same emblem on his helmet tattooed on his face. "I found the civvie a klick away from the camp. The General asked to see him."

The one called Dogma eyed Steve before stepping aside. "Best not keep him waiting." Jesse eyed Dogma, but gestured for Steve to follow. The Clone tucked his helmet under his arm as he spoke, gaining distance from the suspicious Clone. "Dogma's a bit wound tight, never disobeys an order."

"Good man to have, depending on the order." Jesse eyed him out of the corner of his eye but nodded in agreement.

"Yeah."

A moment later, Jesse finally came to a halt as two Clones, with more distinctive armors than the others, one sporting a trimmed goatee, and another with short, blonde hair, approached, along with another man. This one was the only man in the camp who did not have the same face as the rest. He sported dark robes and a metal cylinder at his waist, standing the same height as Steve himself but not nearly as bulky, with a scar running down his right eye. He seemed like a warrior but did not dress the same as the Clones.

"Sir, the civilian, as requested."

The only one clad in robes looked the newcomer up and down, specifically at the star on Steve's chest, and then to the shield on his back.

Jesse shifted his blaster to his other hand and offered the blonde Clone Steve's gun. "His weapon, sir."

The other Clone took it, looking down at the handle before ejecting the magazine, and raising a brow at the ammunition. "A slugthrower?"

"Don't see many of those in this side of the galaxy." The dark-haired Clone spoke, but Steve remained focused on the man in the middle.

He seemed as confused as Steve did, more so maybe, before finally speaking. "My name is Anakin Skywalker. These are my men, Captain Rex," he gestured to the blonde Clone before moving his hand to the other, "and ARC Trooper Fives."

This was a military outfit, Steve figured, it would be best to follow protocol and introduced himself.

"Steve Rogers, Captain, US Army."

"U.S. Army? Never heard of them." Rex questioned.

"It's a branch of my country's armed forces."

"And your country?"

"America, on Earth."

"Your planet is called…Earth?" Fives asked, sharing a look with the Clone Captain.

"I can't say I'm familiar with it." The man in the middle, Anakin looked lost in thought before turning to the Clone beside the Avenger. "You're dismissed, Jesse. Get some rest."

"Thank you, General." Jesse saluted before walking back.

So Skywalker was a General? He was much younger than any of the Generals Steve had met.

"So, Captain Rogers, how did you end up on Umbara during the planetary invasion?"

An entire planet being invaded. It was like something out of 'War of the Worlds' and would have happened with the Chitauri had the Avengers not stopped Loki. Steve feared that the real thing would be worse than anything H.G. Wells could have imagined.

"I was engaging a creature on my world when I fell through a portal, next thing I know, I'm here, being found by one of your men."

"As simple as that?" Rex scrutinized him for a hint of deception, but the young General didn't seem worried.

"I'm afraid it is. Months ago, there was a Singularity on our planet. Ever since, we've been getting guests from other worlds." Skywalker's eyes widened, stroking his chin in thought.

"I don't know about any Singularity, but months ago, the Jedi, myself, and every Force-wielder sensed a wide scale disturbance. We've been experiencing visions and sensing things that are…off, in the galaxy since then."

"I'm sorry, sir, but, the Force?"

Anakin whipped his head toward the stranger from his vision. "You don't know what the Force is? Or the Jedi?"

Rex and Fives shared a look. Everyone had heard of the Jedi in some way. Usually, they think they're just some kind of Wizards wielding magic, unless you've seen and known enough about them.

Steve shook his head, making Anakin frown. "Something is definitely wrong here."

"I agree, General Skywalker, but none of that matters to me. I just want to try and get home." Steve was afraid of what could happen in his absence. He had confidence in his team, they came a long way since the six strangers fighting each other, didn't mean he wants to be away long enough where something could happen and he wasn't there to help.

Anakin's face nodded in understanding. "Don't worry, I will contact Coruscant for the wisdom of the other masters, they should be able to find a way to return you to your world." Steve smiled gratefully, but Anakin's tone dropped. "However, with the battle waged across the planet, the signal will take time before the cruiser could relay it back to the Jedi Temple. You could be here for some time."

"I was afraid of that", Steve sighed but nodded. "I appreciate the effort nonetheless, sir."

"Happy to help. Umbara might not be the safest planet at the moment, but we'll be sure to keep you protected."

"Thank you, General, but that won't be needed." Anakin raised a brow at the Captain's response. "I want to ask you something, if you'll humor me."

"I'll answer as best as I can."

"Why are you fighting this war?" The question took Anakin by surprise, and Rex and Fives as well. Captain Rogers remained undeterred. "I want to know why this war is happening."

"You really don't know?" Fives was taken aback. The galactic conflict had been going on for years now. Rogers really must not be from this galaxy if he didn't know.

"Very well. It all started when a collection of Senators of different worlds left the Republic and accused the Senate of corruption. A Jedi who left the Order called Dooku," Steve could hear the venom in Anakin's voice at speaking the name while he unconsciously clenched his gloved right hand, "gathered these radical planets and organized them into the Confederacy of Independent Systems." That name did not put Steve at ease. "The war officially began when my master and I sought to discover an assassination attempt on another Senator. It led to our capture and execution, until the Jedi Order rescued us, but we all would have perished if not for the Clones." He valued his men, Steve could see that, and by the looks of their faces, Rex and Fives appreciate the praise, even if the former hid it better.

"Thus, the Clone Wars began, and has been raging across the galaxy for the past two years. The Separatists employ droids as their army, allowing them march over any lifeform they deem an enemy without mercy, with an endless horde of machines to do their bidding. The planets they conquer, they enslave the native people, experiment on them, steal from them, starve them, or just execute them all." Steve shut his eyes for a moment as more memories of the past hit him, it sounded too familiar. "Then there is their leadership: Dooku leads the Separatists, but his armies are led by a cyborg called Grievous, who goes out his way to slaughter every Jedi he can find, mutilating their bodies to take trophies, and taking pleasure out of every kill he makes."

Anakin noticed Steve's expression midway through his recounting but did not let up. He wanted to know why they were fighting the war, he should know. The Separatists were vile, they were liars, they murder without remorse, Anakin held no sympathy for them, no matter how many times Ahsoka and Padme tried to convince him there was more to this war. The Jedi General saw firsthand what the other side were capable of, saw the suffering, and saw the apathy Dooku held, the brutality of Grievous, and all their Separatist ilk like Gunray.

Steve collected himself, banishing the dark thoughts before returning to what he needed to know. "These accusations of corruption, do they have merit?"

"No", Anakin said quickly and confidently. "I don't trust the politics, but I trust the Chancellor."

A familiarity and affection were in Anakin's voice, Steve realized. He knew the man personally, which could make him blind to the truth. Then again, this Chancellor could be a good man like Anakin says, although even Fury was blindsided by those he deemed close, like the revelation that Secretary Pierce was HYDRA.

This was alien to Steve, literally, he would have to forgo making any conclusions, that being said, what he learned of these Separatists, it made the captain's blood boil.

"And what are Jedi and Sith?"

"There is a powerful spiritual energy around us, it resides within everything, and binds everything in the galaxy together", Anakin explained. "It is called the Force, and we Jedi can harness it to powerful effect. We are the peacekeepers of the galaxy, even if this war has made soldiers of us all."

"And the Sith?"

"The Sith can do what we do, but they are devoted to the Dark Side, they indulge in greed, hate and deception. Dooku is a Sith himself now."

With that, Steve understood everything he needed to know.

"Thank you for indulging me, General Skywalker." Anakin nodded, calming down from having to recall about his enemies. "I hope you would indulge me further."

"How so?"

"If I am stuck here, I refuse to be an inconvenience. If you allow me, I would like to offer my help."

Anakin's eyes widened, sharing a look with his Captain. "That's a generous offer, but we can't-"

"This isn't my first war, sir. I'm a soldier, anything I can do to help, I will", Steve said passionately, and he meant it.

From the moment he laid eyes on the Captain from Earth, Anakin was amazed by how strong he shined in the Force. Every living being was connected by the Force, some more so than others, hence the Force-sensitives, but regular beings held minor connections.

Captain Rogers was not Force-sensitive like a Jedi or Sith, yet his being radiated a light that reflected his character, it gave him the impression of some of his fellow Jedi, even a master or two that Anakin knew.

The Force also, from what Anakin sensed, rippled around Steve's body, showing that he was different, out of place.

One thing for sure that was obvious, Steve Rogers was different.

Anakin looked to his first in command. "What do you say, Rex?"

The Clone Captain observed the American Captain, who waited patiently for the verdict. He did not have any swagger that the General had, no arrogance, or demands he joined the fight, and his reaction to some of the atrocities of the Separatists was strong, even if he tried to hide it.

Rex did not like to lose more brothers, or even civilians, he knew though they could use every man they could get. "He may be oddly dressed for a civilian, but if he can handle himself in a fire fight, we could do with another man."

Steve smiled gratefully, nodding his head to his fellow Captain, the corner of his stoic face tugging up slightly. Anakin smirked at the two. "Well, there you have it. Good to have you aboard, Steve."

"Thank you for having me, General."

The ARC Trooper crossed his arms and chuckled. "What do you think, Rex, would you say we got ourselves a shiny?"

"Close enough." Rex let a smile cross his lips at his brother, before looking at Steve. "Welcome to the 501st, Captain Rogers."

Earth-1, Central City, STAR Labs

Henry was passing by Strider, when Strider looked at him. "We have not had a chance to talk yet, have we?"

"My apologies for that", Henry said. "Anyways, I've heard a lot about you, and I have to say- thank you for all that you've done for my son and his team."

"You need not thank me", Strider assured him.

"Anyways, after this is done, I'll be off again, Barry doesn't need me anymore", Henry said as he began to walk off.

"I believe he does", Strider said, making Henry turn to face him. "You are his father, are you not?"

"Look, Barry put his life on hold because of me for years", Henry tried to explain. "Even though I was in prison. Now he is the Flash, he has his friends, his whole team, Joe and Iris. Joe raised him! This is a good life for him, and me being here will make it more difficult, as his enemies can threaten me to get to him."

"And they can threaten Joe, Iris, Cisco, Caitlin, Patty, and many more", Strider pointed out. "None of them leave because there is danger, and Barry does not make them leave either."

He thought about how he'd lost his own father, never getting to know him. Lord Elrond had taken him in, and been like his father ever since he was a boy, but there was a part of him that wished to know what his father had been like. His mother was not alive anymore either, even if he had not lost her to tragedy like Barry had.

But Barry had one parent by blood alive, who loved him so much. Strider was going to make sure Barry kept that parent, alongside Joe, who was his Lord Elrond in a way.

"Joe will always hold a place in Barry's heart, just like the Lord Elrond in my heart, as he took me in when I was but a boy. Joe helped craft Barry into the young man we see today, but that would not be without the help of your love. Barry is who he is because of the people in his life, most of all, you. You have been his source of strength for the longest time, it was you that inspired him, Henry Allen. Barry is not holding his life back any longer, and you can be part of the life that he lives now."

Having said that, he walked off, leaving the contemplating Henry behind.

Star City, the lair

"Are you sure it was him?" Oliver inquired to Hunt and Thea.

"He had those throwing stars", Thea pointed out. "And he was dressed a lot like you."

"There's one more thing", Hunt said.

"What's that?" Sara inquired.

"A move I used on him, a few seconds later, he used it on me, with perfect precision", Hunt revealed, as they shared looks.

"That reminds me, he repeated my own moves against me as well", Thea added.

"Its like he just saw us use those moves, and learnt them right there", Hunt agreed.

"I've not seen anyone who can do that", Sara admitted. "Not even Ra's could do it."

"Well, he is a problem", Oliver said. "As is Damien, but right now, we have Andy."

"And I thank you all for that", Diggle said as he looked at everyone. "So, what do we do?"

"I could do some things", Eliot shrugged, sharing a look with Hunt. "You coming?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Hunt smirked at him.

"I can help too", Sara offered. "I was in the League, trust me. I can do a lot."

"Sure thing", Eliot accepted the offer.

"Huh? So, you have no Avengers, no Mutants, none of those X-Men group, no SHIELD either", Hardison said while looking through the Internet. "None of the individual Avengers heroes are here…..but you have Michael Myers?"

"You've Michael Myers too?" Felicity asked, surprised.

"Yeah", Hardison shrugged, while reading through the article. "But this one also rampaged a hospital the night of 1978, then had two more rampages in 1988 and 1989, then he disappeared and….he came back and had another rampage a few weeks ago! In Central City."

"A lot more persistent than the Michael Myers on our Earth", Eliot had to say.

"Our friend in Central City took him down when he attacked there", Oliver informed the two of them. "What happened on your Earth?"

"The night he attacked in 1978, he was caught later that same night, and has been incarcerated since", Hunt revealed.

"Yeah, and in about 3 years, it will be 40 years since Michael was in prison", Parker added.

"Wish ours was like that", Sara muttered, before looking at Eliot and Hunt. "Guess we should go."

They nodded in agreement.

"Now Ray, you ready?" Oliver asked the man.

"As ready as I can be", Ray said nervously.

Later, Queen Consolidated

Oliver and Ray, in their business suits, walked towards the boardroom, as the former commented. "Your shareholders are not gonna be happy."

Ray chuckled in a self-depreciating manner. "Just wait until they hear my excuse, they'll go from livid to plotting my demise in no time...maybe I should stay dead."

"Come on", Oliver shrugged, as the two walked in, looking at the board members.

"Welcome back, Mr. Palmer", Dennis greeted him in a stoic manner, then looked at Oliver. "You too, Mr. Queen."

"Its good to be back", Oliver simply said.

"I have my doubts you can take part in running this company while also running your campaign", Dennis expressed his doubts.

"I know you doubt me, but that's why we're here", Oliver said, turning to Ray.

"Not to tote my own horn, but when I was CEO, Palmer Technologies was flourishing", Ray pointed out to them. "But now, I've Mr. Queen with me. We may have gotten off on the wrong foot, but he has the vision that this company needs, while I have the resources."

"I may not be running this company directly, but that's what Mr. Palmer is here for", Oliver continued. "He knows my plan, and he agrees with it. So, he shall implement everything, and together, we will put this company leaps and bounds ahead of where it is right now."

The board members shared a look, then nodded, before Ray said. "Now, let's discuss business."

Same time, Central City, STAR Labs

Strider found Barry sitting, deep in thought, and sat next to him. "Is there anything I can help you with, my friend?"

"Just thinking", Barry sighed. "Should I tell Patty?'

"That you are the Flash?" Strider inquired, Barry nodding.

"I'm….just thinking", Barry sighed. "What I feel for her, I don't think I've felt that for anyone in my life."

Strider thought of Arwen. The situation wasn't like what Barry and Patty had. But they could be separated, as he was a mortal, and she was an Elf. If Barry felt similarly for Patty, Strider did not want them to be separated.

"If you truly love her", Strider said. "Then you would open yourself to her, and embrace her love."

Leaving Barry to think, Strider then walked off once more.

Same time, Star City, the lair

Andy Diggle woke up with a groan, feeling a bit dehydrated, then turned to see Eliot, Hunt and Sara on the other side of his cage.

"Flushed the drugs out of your body", Eliot told him body. "They're bad for you, ya know?"

Andy just stared at them, before Hunt held up the files. "Tell us- is what's written on here true?"

"Every word", Andy snarled.

"Right", Sara said. "Well, can you tell us what Damien Darhk is planning? Why is he in this city?"

"I won't tell a thing!" Andy said with a sneer.

"Guess you didn't need those drugs to be this kind of guy then, huh?" Eliot said, shaking his head in disgust.

"You didn't require a push to be a criminal, I guess it wasn't that surprising", Hunt sighed, the three walking off.

Diggle was there outside, and asked. "What's the verdict?"

"I'm sorry, John", Sara told him sadly. "He is not who you used to think he was."

Looking like his heart had been hit with a hammer, Diggle wiped his face, then walked inside, storming over to the cage. "I mourned you, Andy! I thought you'd been killed for no reason!"

"Ah, so you're here to give me the lecture again, John?" Andy asked coldly.

"No, the time for that is gone", Diggle snarled. "You had your second chance…and you used it to become Damien Darhk's willing pawn. My brother died a long time ago. Whoever you are…I don't know you."

Turning around, Diggle stormed off, passing Eliot, Hunt and Sara. "I'll call Lyla, ask her to keep him in ARGUS."

"Poor guy", Sara muttered, feeling bad for him.

"Sometimes, the people you think you know, they shock you", Hunt said sadly, again thinking of Jim Phelps, as well as John Musgrave.

Universe-208, Tatooine

Pre-Vizsla and Bo-Katan were in the former's quarters, with Blade standing near them, as Vizsla used a holo-projector to display an image of the hovertrain they were going to hit. "This train is controlled by the Pyke syndicate. They decided to venture out and try to deal on Jabba's territory. Naturally he didn't like this, and wants us to destroy it."

"But, before we do, we're going to take every ounce of supplies the Pykes have, and Jabba would be none the wiser", Bo-Katan added while crossing her arms. Blade briefly glanced at her before looking at the hologram.

"Defenses?"

Straight to business, Vizsla appreciated that. "Eight to ten foot soldiers in each carriage. There's ten carriages."

"Eighty to hundred assholes then. Sounds like a party."

Bo-Katan smirked at his quip. "Each armed with long distance rifles that can pick off the Tuskens from miles away. Unlucky for them, we're not Tuskens."

"We'll have people stationed along the train's route, pick off the Pykes from a distance while a small squad move through the carriages and along the roof the train. Problem is we don't have the manpower to clear the whole train without a prolonged fight that would damage the cargo, and that's not including the possibility of the Pyke's calling for reinforcements."

"This needs to be fast", Blade noted.

"Exactly. Our speeders can carry us to the third carriage before we have to jump on. While the speeders retreat to a distance, it'll be up to the boarding team to clear the train, or at the very least stop it."

"Either way, we'll be under heavy fire."

"Not if our Mandalorians can traverse the roof in tandem with the team fighting the Pykes in the carriages", Vizsla countered Bo-Katan.

Stroking his chin in thought, the Daywalker's thoughts were evaluating everything the Mandalorians told him. The plan was risky but sound, they didn't seem to have the resources for a plan he'd have in mind, but they could have more thought out they had yet to tell him.

A train heist was new for him.

A heist with a hovertrain and hover bikes with a squad of laser shooting, jetpack-wearing, armored commandos on another planet? Never did he think a life of hunting Vampires would lead to this.

Still, he had one thing on his mind. "What part do I play in this?"

"We don't have enough men to watch our backs while we progress to the front. The carriages behind us need to be dealt with."

"So you want me to clear twenty-four to thirty motherf*ckers by myself?"

"Fun party, huh?" Bo-Katan continued to smirk in jest. Blade grunted but said nothing.

Vizsla walked around the projector until he was eye-to-eye with the warrior, those golden eyes of his never wavered, remaining sharp throughout his entire stay. Hardened, efficient, everything Vizsla would seek in an ally. "You do this, and we will fulfil our end of the bargain. A Mandalorian does not break a promise."

Their eyes never broke contact. Bo-Katan moved her eyes between the two, watching as the master of the Darksaber offered his arm. "Do we have a deal, Blade?"

He only continued to stare through his cold eyes, gauging Vizsla's words and whether they were the truth. With his hearing, bolstered by his thirst, Blade could hear his heartbeat, and knew he was telling the truth. It would be risky, but the half-Vampire had no other choice.

Clasping Vizsla's arm with his own, Blade nodded. "Deal."

Earth-1, Central City, STAR Labs

Strider walked into the lab, where Harry and Cisco had finally managed to take the mask off of Zoom's prisoner, and noticed everyone was staring at him in shock.

Looking at the man himself, Strider realized why.

"What?" The man asked, the bearded face of Henry Allen staring at the room.

"You look just like me", Henry said as he stared at him.

"Yeah, that's why I gave you that look when I first arrived", the man who was his doppelganger revealed with a little smile. "I'm Jay Garrick, the real Jay Garrick."

"Garrick? That was my mother's maiden name", Henry noted, astonished.

"My father did not have any part in raising me." Jay revealed why he was a Garrick instead of an Allen.

"Right", Henry nodded.

"He wanted my speed, but he couldn't take it", Jay said. "But now, I thank you all for freeing me from that place, and removing the mask from my face."

"It had a dampener that prevented you from talking or using your speed", Cisco told him.

"Right", Jay said, then took the mask from Cisco. "I don't ever wanna see this thing again." Vibrating his hand, he phased it through the mask, chopping it into two before dropping it.

"Which Earth are you from?" Barry asked, stunned at seeing the real Jay Garrick himself, though he kept his shock bottled up.

"I think you'd all call that Earth-3", Jay smiled.

"Ramon, the goggles", Harry held them up. "I hooked them up for you, just need to do a few modifications, then you can find out which breach leads to his Earth, as well as Strider's."

"Thanks Harry", Cisco said.

"So, that means I would be able to return soon", Strider realized.

"Yeah", Barry said. "We'll say goodbye when the time comes though."

Star City, the lair

After having given his speech for the bay, Oliver returned to the lair, seeing Eliot, Parker, Hardison and Hunt there, with Eliot doing the salmon ladder, while Parker was sparring with Hunt, learning from him, and Hardison was on the computers.

"How is John?" Eliot inquired as he got down from the salmon ladder.

"Not well", Oliver noted. "I'll be talking to him soon. But before that, I needed to talk to you all."

"Sure, what's it about?" Hunt asked.

"Actually, not you, Ethan, no offense", Oliver said, then looked at Eliot, Parker and Hardison. "But the three of you."

"Right", Parker said, as Oliver gestured to a corner, and they followed him there, while Oliver took out a book, then handed it to Eliot.

Eliot read through it. "It's a list of names."

"And some of them are crossed out", Hardison noted. "Why is that?"

"Its not a kill-list, even if it looks like one", Oliver said, sitting down, and gesturing to some seats, on which they sat down as well. "It's a list of people who are poisoning this city. Rich people, politicians, lawyers, bankers, it's a whole lot of them. My first year back, I took them down. First, I went after them and gave them a warning. If they didn't listen, I went after them again, and ruined them, or got them arrested. In very extreme cases….I killed them as well."

"Sounds like….." Parker shared looks with Eliot and Hardison, "…..what we do."

"Except the killing part", Hardison raised a hand. "No judgment though, just saying is all."

"I haven't looked at it in 3 years now", Oliver then revealed. "Not even once."

"I did research your alter-egos when I came", Eliot said. "Second year onwards, there were no reports of you going after such people, just street criminals, and other gangs."

"Tell me- was it a mistake?" Oliver inquired. "They were being made to contribute to the Undertaking back then. I thought by stopping it, I'd have saved this city. But….I only stopped half of it."

Oliver looked very pained, as he remembered the death of Tommy.

"Even if you did stop it fully, these people are not going to stop what they're doing", Eliot pointed out as he handed the List back to Oliver. "They will carry on, and continue to ruin this city."

"Our former leader, Nate, he got into this because the IYS, the insurance company he worked for as an investigator, they refused to pay for his son's treatment", Hardison revealed, Oliver feeling nothing but sympathy for Nate on hearing that. "At the end of our first year, we got back at them as well. Ruined the one responsible."

"But eventually, we came back together, to take on more people of this sort", Eliot added. "Because they were not gonna stop…unless we did something. Nate and Sophie, another member of ours, they're retired now, but we are still carrying out the good fight. And we will continue to do so."

"People like that….corporations like that, they have all the money and all the power, and they use it to make the little innocent guys go away", Parker said, as they all looked at her. "Because of such people, the innocents are suffering under an enormous weight. We provide…Leverage."

Oliver nodded on hearing that, realizing what he needed to do now.

"And if people think you're a bad guy or anything", Parker added. "Sometimes, bad guys make the best good guys."

Now Oliver smiled, looking at all three of them. "I think after hearing all this, I see everything a lot more clearly. Thank you, all three of you."

He looked at Eliot. "You coming here might have been an accident, but I guess its what I needed."

"What are you, Eliot? Some gift from God or what?" Hardison inquired jokingly.

"Dammit Hardison!" Eliot said, Hardison chuckling.

"Yeah, just wanted to hear that", Hardison said, then held out his hand as Eliot grasped it and they did their bro hug, before Eliot lightly shoved Hardison back and walked off.

Hardison walked off after him, and the smirking Parker went with them. "Now now, let me get some popcorn."

Oliver chuckled at their antics, wishing he could have this kind of dynamic with his own team. Well, if things were to get better from now on, he just might.

Central City, STAR Labs

Jay, after having eaten, was back in his own suit, as Barry noted. "So he stole your color scheme too."

"He took a lot of things that were mine", Jay looked at Hunter's helmet. "Except that. That was all him."

"I remember he said it was his father's from the war", Caitlin remembered.

"Its kind of ironic", Jesse had to say.

"Yeah", Harry nodded. "On our Earth, that helmet…it stood for hope."

Jay Garrick theme plays

"Well, maybe I can continue the sentiment", Jay said, holding out his hand, and taking the helmet, before putting it on his head. "Take something from him for a change, and make it my own."

"It suits you", Caitlin had to say.

"Thank you all for saving me from Zoom", he looked at Strider and Harry. "Especially the two of you, and Batman. I hope he doesn't trouble anyone for a long time."

"I hope we meet again soon, Flash", Barry then held out his hand, that Jay shook.

"Sure thing, Flash", Jay nodded, as Cisco arrived with his glasses.

"Just, I'm gonna vibe now", Cisco said, then grasped Jay, trying to focus, and gasped a little, before walking back and taking the glasses off. "Okay, the breach is on 52nd street."

"We have one on my Earth, I can get there by myself", Jay said, looking at them one last time. "Thank you once more, and see ya in a Flash."

With that, he ran off at super speed, as Cisco panted, looking at Strider. "All right, sorry man, but I'm feeling really tired right now. Don't think I can vibe for a bit, can we wait?"

"It is fine, Cisco. I know you will send me back soon", Strider assured him, as Cisco nodded and walked off.

"I'll be leaving too."

All but Strider jumped as Batman appeared from the shadows. "My work here is done. Zoom is stopped for now. For the breaches, I'm sure something will be figured out."

With that, he started walking off as Barry told him. "I never said thank you."

"And you'll never have to", Batman assured him, before throwing him something. Barry caught it, seeing it was a phone. "If you need any help, you can call me on that."

With that, he was gone.

"Guess that concludes everything", Joe had to say, the group beginning to part.

"You remember what I said about not being here so you can be the Flash without worrying about me?" Henry asked Barry.

"Yeah."

"Well, forget it. You're stuck with me, son", Henry said, as Barry smiled and happily hugged his father.

Batman sat in his Batwing, and activating it, flew off. This was what he'd used to get items from Gotham City to Central City so quickly.

He called up Alfred, who picked up. "Hello Bruce."

"I'll be back soon, Alfred", Batman said.

Star City

Diggle was near Floyd Lawton's grave, when he felt a presence behind him, and turned to see Oliver standing there.

"Thought I'd find you here", Oliver said, as Diggle stood up.

"What my brother is, I really don't know what to think now", Diggle said with a sigh. "Except, I'm sorry Oliver."

"For what?" Oliver inquired.

"I realize now, what you did when undercover, it was hard for you, but it needed to be done", Diggle sighed. "I just didn't see it then, because I pushed my issues with Andy onto you. Even though you've stood by me a lot, I'm sorry."

"I just hope things will be better from now on", Oliver said, Diggle nodding, as he turned to look at Lawton's grave.

"I hated you for so long, because I thought you'd killed my brother", Diggle said. "But now….you are a far better and more honorable man than he could ever be. Thank you, for what you did for me, Lyla and our daughter. We can never repay you."

"You can", Oliver said, Diggle turning to face him. "By not wasting your lives, helping this city, and raising your daughter into a wonderful person."

Hearing that, Diggle had a slight smile, as the two of them walked off together, Oliver noting. "And I think something can be done about his reputation too."

Earth-21, Metropolis, LexCorp

Lex was in his tower, reading through the schematics of his machine, wondering where he had gone wrong. He was glad to not be wigging out again though, that was a huge bonus.

Once he figured out what the mistake was, he could finally remake the machine, and start his plan properly this time.

Suddenly, he heard a 'whooshing' sound, causing him to stand up as papers flew around, and then he saw a man in a blue suit with a Demonic mask, having Demon-like claws in one arm standing before him, blue lightning coming off of him. One of his arms had been chopped off, a stump in its place.

"Who are you?" Lex asked, as the man staggered around, and then fell to the ground, passing out while groaning, Lex just watching him in stunned shock.

Chapter 14: The Cray Cray Job

Chapter Text

Universe-208, Umbara

Steve walked to where Anakin and Rex were using what looked like binoculars to look ahead at something, while Dogma walked away from them and past him.

Steve went near them, Anakin handing the super soldier his macrobinoculars. "You can use these to look at the attack by my friend's batallion."

Steve used those, looking at just that, while Anakin explained to him. "Our mission is to capture the capital."

That was when they all heard blaster fire coming from behind them, and turned to see the Clones trying to fire at something.

Then, some others started firing their blasters at the Clones too, while one of them cried out. "Ambush! They're behind us!"

The Clone climbed onto his AT-RT but was struck as he went down.

"The enemy has circled behind us", Fives said, putting his helmet on as he rushed forwards.

Anakin, Steve and Rex rushed forwards as well behind him.

"Everybody, we must defend our backs!"

Steve rushed forwards at full speed, surprising the Clones and even the General at how fast he was running, as he outran them all, while he drew his gun too, then held his shield up.

The green plasma bolts met his Vibranium shield, and just like the blasts of the Hydra weapons and Loki's Scepter, the metal remained intact.

Aiming his gun, Steve returned fire, his enhanced eyesight allowing him to see through the dark of the planet to aim and pull the trigger.

Every time he fired off a shot, his target hit the ground half a second later, their domed helmets broken, and blood leaking through their foreheads.

From what he could see, the Umbarans seemed to be like humans, only encased in bodysuits with domed helmets filled with a kind of gas.

Whether that gas was needed for survival, Steve did not know, only that they seemed to shout in a language he did not understand.

As he turned, he saw Anakin holding the cylinder from before, a vibrant blue light now extending from it, looking like a concentrated beam of a star, in the shape of a sword.

Anakin tried to bring it down on what looked like a mechanical insect creature, which was spewing electrical shocks at the soldiers, but it barely avoided him.

However, it wasn't fast enough to escape both a Jedi and a Super Soldier. As soon as it skittered away from Anakin, Steve's foot planted down upon it, crushing it into bits that scattered on the ground nearby.

Steve looked at Anakin's lightsaber. "What kind of sword is that?"

"I can ask you the same thing about that shield", Anakin replied, looking at the Vibranium shield.

Steve then noticed three of the Umbarans moving closer. Rearing his arm back, Steve hurled his shield, sending it traveling with speed toward a tree, before it ricocheted off and struck and bounced off each of the three helmets, each hit sending them to the hard ground with cracks in their visors before the shield returned to its owner's hand.

Anakin let out a short laugh while Rex and Fives briefly paused in their shooting. "Good trick."

"It's all in the wrist."

As they took cover from more fire, Steve defending himself with his shield, Rex said to Anakin. "Call in an air strike on the enemy positions."

Anakin nodded. "Let's hope they're not too busy helping Obi-Wan."

Rex gestured. "There's an opening to our south. I recommend we move all platoons off the ridge in case the air strike over-shoots."

"Good thinking, Rex", Anakin complimented him before saying. "Everyone, move out, now!"

And with that, Anakin and the Clones started moving away, Anakin using his lightsaber to deflect any bolts coming at him and his men.

Steve waited until the last Clone had run past him, and then started running, covering all of them from behind with his shield. An AT-RT was running by him, when a strike caused it to explode while its driver was thrown out, falling down.

Steve lay down, suppressing some fire, and moved to the Clone, throwing him over his shoulder.

With that, he continued to run behind the Clones, until they were off the ridge, and taking cover behind the planet's vegetation.

Steve set the unconscious AT-RT driver against a tree before calling out. "I need a medic!"

"I'm here!" Steve turned his head as a trooper with unique blue markings on his white armor, like Jesse, Fives, and Rex, but with red symbols too, run over with a pack on his back. Steve could only watch as he set down the pack, pulling out what looked like a syringe as the Clone medic ripped of the unconscious one's helmet and injected his neck, making his body seize before relaxing. "That should stabilize any injuries for now."

Steve sighed in relief before watching the Umbarans continue to fire in vain at the Clones who seemed to be out of range of their weapons. Their green energy shots seemed to dissipate before it could too far. So, Steve realized, those laser guns couldn't go on indefinitely.

Then he became aware of how silent the entire platoon became, waiting for the air strike Rex promised to appear, with only the sound of the enemy militia filling the air. That's when he heard it.

From the west, Steve looked up to see two jets of Y-shaped design fly over, with bombs descending on the Umbaran ambush.

"Good old Oddball, always on target", Steve heard Jesse say as he focussed on the explosion that engulfed the ridge he and the hundreds of Clones around him formerly occupied.

The sound and the sight of the explosion captured Steve in a daze, as the foreign forest of Umbara was replaced by the fields of Germany, enemy tanks being reduced to molten metal and ash as the allies paid back what the Nazis did to London, and only the screams of burning Germans could be heard.

It was only after he felt something hard gripping his shoulder did the super soldier knock out of his daze and turned to the Jedi general, watching in concern. "You okay, Captain?"

Was he? Steve could not answer himself, but he did for the general, standing straight as his training took over. "Yes, sir."

Skywalker sensed his new "shiny" was engulfed by troubled thoughts, but the man still held a strong aura. Already, he turned to help Kix with the injured Clone, which left the Jedi to turn back focus on to the rest of his battalion. A General's job is never done.

Earth-92, Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel

Angel was working on a little crossword that had gotten his attention, when Wesley walked out of his office. "Hey Wes, what's an eight-letter word for decapitated?"

Before Wesley could speak, Fred appeared at the top of the stairs, her hair a mess, dressed only in an oversized bathrobe, about to say something, only to sneeze loudly.

"Gesundheit, Fred", Wesley responded in kind as Fred reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Thanks", she said with a shake of the head, then glanced at Angel. "Headless."

Angel frowned. "Huh?"

"Headless", Wesley repeated. "That is your answer. You were perhaps trying to think of something in the past tense, like 'the Headless Horseman decapitated Ichabod Crane', but with the conditions given, 'headless' would be the synonym."

Angel grinned broadly. "Thanks guys." He returned to his crossword on the sofa.

"How are you, Fred?" Wesley inquired.

"Fine", she said, trying to smile and failing. "I feel much better now, guys, I promise."

"You don't look like it", Cordelia said, giving her a look. "If you want to be out of bed, fine, but Doctor Cordy will have to prescribe you a bowl of chicken soup and an industrial-sized box of tissues." Looking like she was thinking, Cordelia suddenly said. "Actually, on second thought, don't be out of bed either, come on, let's get you back up."

The women started walking up the steps, when suddenly Cordelia gasped, holding her head in pain, making Angel rush to her as he caught her in his arms.

In her visions, Cordelia saw the Grace Andersen Sanitorium's sign, and then Michael Myers was there, killing two security guards.

Then he and Laurie Strode seemed to be in battle, and Michael was dangling from a rope.

Laurie suddenly reached out to his mask, and then he grabbed her arm, the rope breaking and dropping him while he grabbed her and stabbed her in the back, and soon after, Laurie fell to her death.

As Cordelia continued to moan, Angel gently carried her over to a chair, propping her up, allowing it to pass, while the rest were in front of her soon enough.

"Cordy, are you all right?" Angel asked her first what everyone else was feeling.

She ignored the question to tell them what she'd seen. "Michael Myers….he is here, in the Grace Andersen Sanitorium. He is going to kill Laurie Strode!"

"Michael Myers? Why is he here?" Fred asked, not having caught up on what the masked serial killer had been up to ever since returning from Pylea.

"Laurie Strode faked her death and moved to Summer Glen, California to escape Michael Myers. She was the headmistress of the Hillcrest Academy, and lived with her son, John. Michael managed to track them down, and killed some people", Wesley explained. "Laurie fought him, and eventually, she managed to decapitate him. But it was not Michael, he had switched himself with a paramedic, and rendered the man mute by crushing his larynx. Since then, Laurie has been institutionalized in the Grace Andersen Sanitorium in this city."

"Michael Myers", Angel whispered as he walked to his weapons cabin. "He is the only one I'd say is as evil as Angelus. He is a monster."

The time Michael had tried to kill Laurie recently had brought him and the situation to media attention again, so except Fred, all of them knew the basics about Michael's actions starting from 1963 itself.

"What if there is more? Like demonic possession?" Wesley wondered.

"Or maybe he was something worse", Angel said as he got a faraway look in his eyes. "Complete disregard for life, no morals. Michael Myers had no soul."

Wesley realized it could be true, as he, Angel and Cordelia shared a look.

Even the Ethros Demon possessing Ryan Anderson feared him, a boy. Said boy also tried to kill his own family, like Michael.

Wesley then had a horrifying thought.

"How many others are there?"

"I don't know, Wes."

"Thanks for the nightmares, guys", Cordelia muttered lowly.

Wesley had a realization. "Angel...do you think God really created everything?"

"What do you mean?"

"Vampires, Demons, the soulless, evil itself...do you think God created it all?"

Angel was silent for a long time. The answer to that question, he did not consider it lightly.

"If God is the Creator of all good, then how could He allow for things so foul to exist?"

"Maybe He did." Wes looked at him sharply. Angel's eyes were distant as he lost himself in thought.

"With everything we've seen, if God truly is responsible for all of creation...then even He must have a dark side. Or a dark counterpart, I guess." He looked forwards. "Don't really wanna think about it though. Even I have beliefs."

"What beliefs?" Gunn asked as he suddenly appeared.

"Leave beliefs, Michael Myers is here", Cordelia said, groaning as she was still recovering from the pain, Gunn's eyes widening.

"Damn!" He said, while Angel picked out his sword.

"Yeah, I had the same reaction, didn't even know he was back, but then again, I'm just back myself", Fred rambled a bit.

"Let's go guys, we need to stop him", Angel said while walking past them.

Earth-1, Star City

"To what do I owe this, visit, Miss Michaels?" Agent Smith inquired as he looked at her.

"Floyd Lawton", Lyla told him immediately. "I want to clear the record regarding him- he was not the perpetrator behind what happened in the Republic of Kasnia. Senator Cray was responsible. He hired those mercenaries to pose as terrorists so he could diffuse the situation and look like a hero."

"Witness accounts say differently", Smith shrugged coldly.

"They were paid to stay silent", Lyla pointed out. "We need to-"

"Keep it that way", Smith cut her off, ending the conversation. "Amanda Waller survived for as long as she did because she learnt to follow my lead. I suggest you do the same."

Lyla could only look at him in disbelief, realizing not much could be done here, and walked off.

Arrow Lair

Hardison was at the computers, improving the security, when Oliver entered the bunker, seeing him hard at work. Eliot and Hunt were sparring, while Parker was watching with popcorn.

Felicity than ran towards Oliver, making him groan internally.

"I am NOT okay with this!"

"..."this" being what exactly?"

"He is touching my babies!"

"Are you sure you're not just being overly sensitive?"

"I have been behind those monitors, watching them as they grew up for four years, I know their hardware and software. It's like someone-"

"Felicity", Oliver said louder and sterner than before, getting her attention and ranting. "You don't seem to realize that whenever computers or hacking are involved, you tend to put yourself in charge-"

"I wasn't hired for my looks." The disapproving frown made her shut her mouth.

"When you were in Central City, what Hardison did to you, you did the same to Cisco. What he's doing now, you also did for the guys at STAR Labs. Are we sure that the reason you're overreacting is because your ego took a blow?"

Felicity crossed her arms and refused to meet his eyes. "Maybe."

"Felicity, you were outhacked before." The look of betrayal in her eyes did not stop his resolve. "Improved security is better than no security, don't you think?"

"...yeah." The blonde hacker admitted bitterly.

"Hardison is a friend, he thinks differently than us which can be an advantage when he run up against another powerful player."

"Yeah", Felicity said, her tone downcast.

"Good. Your attitude was becoming a liability, take this experience as a lesson in humility."

That was when Lyla walked in. "Oliver."

Oliver turned to her, as did the rest. "Hey Lyla, what's the matter?"

"Joseph Cray", Lyla said, putting a little file regarding him down on the table, Oliver narrowing his eyes as Eliot, Parker, Hardison and Hunt walked towards the table as well, looking through the file themselves.

"This guy is a piece of work", Parker noted.

"He is engineered a hostage situation in the Republic of Kasnia months ago", Lyla explained. "Our man Floyd Lawton died trying to stop his mercenaries and help us escape. But Cray made him the scapegoat, blaming the entire situation on him, and paid the hostages for their silence. Lawton was a very flawed man, he made many mistakes, but he does not deserve that."

"Considering what this guy has done, he is automatically worse than whatever Lawton was", Eliot had to say.

"I did tell Diggle he and you could try to clear Lawton's reputation now", Oliver told her.

"I tried that, but there's this man, Agent Smith, he shot me down", Lyla said with a groan. "I want to clear Lawton's name, but if I carry on with this, they'll remove me as Director of ARGUS, and can replace me with someone worse than Waller."

"So your hands are tied", Hunt noted grimly. "And you cannot do much in this situation."

"No", Lyla said. "And that is why I came to you all."

"Because we took down Waller", Hardison said in realization. "And you want us to do the same to Cray now."

"Indeed, it'd be much appreciated", Lyla told them.

Parker looked at Oliver, who gave her a nod, so she turned back to Lyla. "We're gonna start working on it."

"Thank you", Lyla smiled, before walking off.

"So, what's the plan regarding him?" Eliot inquired.

"Cray is on the List, so he'll be the first person I take down now that I'm back on it", Oliver commented, then looked at Eliot, Parker and Hardison. "And since you three inspired me to get back to it, only fitting you're there when I take down the first guy after getting back onto this."

"So, we're gonna work on another con then?" Hunt asked.

"Yes, and we need to make it up together", Parker realized.

"Well, as someone who runs a big company, I'm sure there are quite a few cons we could do on the guy", Oliver said, the rest smirking in agreement.

Universe-208, Umbara

"Take it easy, soldier." Steve eased another Clone back to his feet with Kix on the other side after dispensing more shots into the injured Clone.

"I know how to walk, shiny." The Clone named Ringo joked with the newcomer as he walked back to his position. Steve was not so sure how he felt about his new nickname. One thing was for certain: it was better than any nickname the bullies in Brooklyn and the Army gave him pre-serum.

"Clones are made of stern stuff, mostly in our heads." The Clone medic, Kix, informed his unofficial nurse.

Steve had easily learned that Kix' only care was the wellbeing of his fellow soldiers, taking great care to mend wounds, both minor and major, and making sure no soldier was overlooked. Steve liked him immediately.

Sounds from above had Steve discover three incoming aerial vehicles, two resembled jets, with wings stretching out to their side, but one was bigger, two spotlights on either side of the front, with turrets ad what Steve assumed were rockets attached.

"Hey, shiny." A voice had Steve lower his gaze to find ARC Trooper Fives passing him by and beckoning him forward. "We got a larty incoming. The General wants you with him."

"Thanks for the help", Kix said to the taller soldier as they joined the other trooper. Steve nodded back to the medic before moving with the more heavily geared soldier. While Steve was made of questions since his arrival on the planet of Umabara, he only had one in mind at the moment.

"Larty?"

"Short for Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry, "larty" for short", Fives educated the human from Earth before looking at him from behind his helmeted gaze. "Handled yourself well back there. Guess you were telling the truth."

There was a difference between being in a war, and actually fighting it. In Fives' eyes, Rogers proved he was part of the latter category. That earned his respect, as did risking his neck to help another Clone in trouble.

"I try", Steve replied honestly as the General and Captain Rex came into view.

Fives removed his helmet. "I saw what you did when we were retreating. Thanks."

"No man left behind", Steve replied. He kept his tone level, but inside he felt pained. There were many cases when he and other soldiers weren't so lucky to pull troops away to safety, even despite his best efforts.

Not knowing the other captain's inner turmoil, Fives still smirked at the man. "I'm starting to like you, shiny", the ARC trooper said genially.

Steve and Fives stood at attention as they finally made it to Anakin and Rex as the ship landed in front of them. When the doors opened, the First Avenger was not sure how to react to what he saw inside.

Two Clones, and a much larger being. The most prominent thing about the alien was it's height, estimated in Steve's eyes as seven feet and seven inches tall, green skin, a crest atop it's head, and more shockingly, four arms.

The alien walked out of the ship, letting Steve see he wore similar robes to Anakin, and what looked like similar devices as Anakin's laser sword on his waist, but two of them of a much more different design.

When he leapt out that transport, walking to the General with two of its arms behind its back, Steve felt unease from his place to Anakin's left.

"Master Krell, my thanks for the air support", Anakin said to him.

"Indeed, General Skywalker", the alien, whose name seemed to be Krell, spoke in reply. "The locals have proven to be more resourceful than we anticipated."

And then, Anakin gestured to Steve. "This is Captain Steve Rogers. I felt something in the Force, and not long after, Steve walked into our camp."

"Yes, I thought I felt it too. Quite similar to the disturbance felt not that long ago", Krell responded as he scrutinized the human.

Steve may be new to this world, or galaxy, it seemed, but he did not like the way the tall, four-armed alien was looking at him. Anakin's words broke him from his thoughts. "He hails from a planet called Earth, but I'm afraid I'm not familiar with it."

"Nor am I, or anyone else in the Order from what I know."

"I agreed to speak on his behalf to the Council to see if we can help in his case, and in the meantime, he has agreed to aid the 501st."

"A civilian helping on a campaign?" Krell narrowed his eyes, but Steve held his gaze.

"This isn't my first war." The Avenger said coolly.

Anakin smirked, clapping Steve's shoulder. "Trust me, he's no normal civilian."

Krell just nodded, then revealed. "I am not here about this though. The Council has ordered you to Coruscant, effective immediately."

"What? Why?" Anakin asked in surprise, not having expected that.

"I'm afraid a request was made by the Supreme Chancellor, and the Council obliged", Krell informed Anakin. "That is all they would tell me."

"Well, I can't just leave my men", Anakin protested with conviction.

"I'll be taking over in the interim", Krell assured.

"Don't worry about a thing, sir", Rex assured Anakin. "We'll have this city under Republic control by the time you're back."

Anakin made the introductions. "Master Krell, this is Rex, my first in command. You won't find a finer and more loyal trooper anywhere."

Steve admired the praise and confidence Anakin had for Rex. Clearly, they had been through a lot, their confidence in each other was clear.

"Good to hear that. I wish you well, Skywalker", Krell said, putting a hand to his shoulder.

Anakin turned to Steve. "You could come with me, to make your case to the Council."

Steve was never one to run from a fight. And dealing with politicians while a war was being fought? The choice was clear to the super soldier.

"I appreciate the offer, General", Steve said humbly. "But my place is here, with the other soldiers. I shall help them in any way I can."

Anakin accepted Steve's choice with a nod and promised. "When I'm back on Coruscant, I'll explain the situation to the Jedi Council. Hopefully the other masters will know something."

With that, Anakin got into the LAAT, and it flew off, Steve and Anakin sharing one last look.

"Your reputation precedes you, General", Rex complimented Krell as he walked next to the Jedi. "It is an honor to be serving you."

"I find it very interesting, Captain, that you are able to recognize the value of honor, for a clone", Krell said in a condescending tone, taking Steve aback, while Rex was surprised too. "Stand at attention when I address you."

Rex did just that, as Krell started moving off. "Your flattery is duly noted, but it will not be rewarded."

Steve noted how in the presence of Anakin, Krell seemed amiable, formal but friendly. But after Anakin had gone off in the LAAT, Krell's demeanour had changed completely, and Steve did not like it.

The hostility in Krell's tone to Rex was plain, and deliberate.

Unfortunately, while Steve volunteered to help the 501st, he was just that, a volunteer, he had no official ranking or voice in the chain of command, meaning he could say nothing against Krell.

It did not mean he would tolerate the abuse to his fellow soldiers.

"There's a reason my command is so effective, and it's because I do things by the book, and that includes protocol. Have all platoons ready to move out immediately. That is all."

Rex and Fives shared a look, the former sighing in resignation, knowing that this was not a Jedi like Anakin Skywalker.

As they started moving, Steve followed the Jedi with a narrowed gaze.

Earth-92, Los Angeles, Grace Andersen Sanitorium

The security officer Willie Haines had just discovered his fellow guard's bloody head wrapped in sheets and revolving in an institutional laundry machine, while Michael Myers lowered himself from the ceiling.

Screaming in horror, Willie stepped back, only to slip in the pool of blood of the decapitated guard's body, and then Michael grabbed him, before slicing his throat with his butcher knife.

Halloween theme plays

The dead Willie fell to the floor, while Michael moved forth through the Sanitorium, looking for his target.

He passed a room, then walked through a hall, not taking any wrong turns, and looked at the door marked 6-L in front of him, which was where Laurie was kept.

Michael was about to burst through the door when he heard someone call out to him. "Hey!"

He turned to see Angel having appeared out of nowhere, holding his sword. Before Michael could do anything, Angel decked him on the face, making him stagger away in pain and shock, the shock being because the blow had affected him this badly.

At that moment, Wesley struck at Michael with his own sword, but Michael avoided in time, then tried to slice Wesley with his knife, though Wesley avoided, then punched Michael, though this punch did not have too much effect.

As Wesley struck again, Michael side-stepped to avoid, and tried to slice at Wesley. Wesley leapt away to avoid but was sliced on the shoulder, making him gasp in pain.

Gunn then appeared, trying to hit Michael with his ax as he roared, but Michael stepped back to avoid, though the ax did slice his clothing, and gave him a cut, while Gunn followed up by kicking Michael, which barely staggered him.

Wesley gritted his teeth, and struck Michael again. Michael tried to dodge but his shoulder was sliced as well, just like Wesley's.

Gunn brought up his ax and tried to bring it down on Michael, only for Michael to grab both of Gunn's hands with just one of his own, managing to hold him back as Gunn struggled, while Wesley tried to slice at him, but Michael swung his own knife, forcing Wesley to back off.

That was when Angel leapt and kicked Michael on the face, making him fly back and fall down, while the Vampire walked forth, his sword held up.

Michael got back up and swung his knife at Angel, who dodged, and then as Michael tried to strike with the knife again, Angel grabbed his hand with his own, holding it back, shocking Michael at his strength once more.

Then, Angel head-butted Michael, sending him staggering back, before spinning and kicking his face as Michael flew and then fell down.

As he tried to get up again, Angel said. "Bye-bye, Michael."

And then, he swung his sword, decapitating Michael at last, the masked head rolling onto the floor while the headless body toppled as well.

Laurie Strode walked out of her room, where she had lain a trap for Michael, having seen what had just happened.

Running past the three Team Angel members, Laurie knelt near the head, taking off the mask, just to be sure this time.

And she saw the same face she'd seen briefly when she'd unmasked Michael back in 1978.

Seeing that face, Laurie suddenly let out a scream, and taking out a knife of her, started stabbing Michael's headless body. "Die! Die! Die!"

Angel quickly grabbed her, pulling her away as he held Laurie in his arms, the woman crying into his chest as he assured her. "Its okay, its okay. Its over."

It took quite a few minutes, and Angel didn't let Laurie go, knowing she needed some comfort and closure.

After a few more minutes, she sighed in relief, then Angel let her go, as she looked at Team Angel while wiping her eyes. "You three did it."

"He is dead, he won't go after you or anyone else again", Angel assured Laurie, who nodded.

"Thank you", she said to them all hoarsely. "I killed the wrong person. You've fixed that mistake for me."

"Do not think of it", Wesley assured her, as the three began walking off.

"Goodbye", Angel said, and she nodded.

"Goodbye."

"Well, we took down Michael Myers now", Gunn said as they came out of the Sanitorium. "That was something."

"Yes, and because of how infamous he is, news of this is going to spread soon", Wesley noted. "Which will be both a good thing and a bad thing."

"Yeah, people are gonna want to meet the ones who took down Michael Myers, people from both sides", Angel agreed.

Later, Hyperion Hotel

Angel, Wesley and Gunn stepped in, Cordelia noticing the wound on Wesley's shoulder, and quickly ran to get the first aid kit.

As they sat down, Fred asked. "Did you do it?"

"Yeah, Michael is gone", Gunn assured her, while Cordelia came out with the first aid, applying the medicine on Wesley's wound before starting to bandage it up.

"With how brutal he is from what I've heard, well, be glad this was the worst you got", Cordelia had to say to Wesley.

"We had him with us, so it was no trouble", Wesley said as he gestured to Angel.

"Good job, pretty boy", Cordelia quipped, making Angel chuckle.

"Just helping the helpless, Cordy", Angel assured her. "Though its all because you got a vision."

"A head-splittingly bad one, but yeah, credit where its due", Cordelia smirked and joked, Angel again noting how she was downplaying the pain of the visions and joking about those.

He just hoped they could help her with these visions as soon as possible.

Earth-1, Star City

In Senator Cray's office, Cray sat across from Agent Smith, who was telling him. "The new Director of ARGUS is really trying to get the truth about Lawton and you."

"We can't let that happen", Cray said, looking a bit scared, as all his dreams would be shattered in that case. "Will you deal with her?"

"I've shut her down for now, Senator", Smith assured him. "If she tries anything else, let's just say ARGUS shall have new leadership soon enough. Do not worry Senator, as long as I'm around, your reputation is safe. This country needs you."

"Thank you, Agent Smith. And I will not disappoint once I become President", Cray nodded, while Smith got up and walked off, seeing Oliver Queen walking in, alongside Eliot and Parker, not that he knew who the other two were.

He just gave them a look, then walked off, while the three saw Cray's assistant coming to him. "Sir, there was one more appointment for you. He is here now."

Cray looked up to see Oliver, Eliot and Parker standing there, and said. "Mr. Queen, I wasn't expecting you."

"Its fine Senator, this was on short notice", Oliver said, holding out his hand that Cray shook, before Oliver took his seat in front of him. "I hear you're going to run for President."

"I hear you're running for Mayor", Cray noted himself. "And that you got your company back too."

"That is correct, Senator", Oliver noted. "This is my bodyguard, Jacob Stone", Eliot simply gave a nod at that, while Oliver continued. "And this is my assistant, Beth Leach", Parker gave a little smile and wave, and then Oliver said. "Now, I want to talk to you about something, which I'm sure you'll find intriguing."

"I'm listening", Cray smirked.

"I will back your campaign financially, Senator", Oliver revealed, to the Senator's delight. "I just need your help with one thing."

"Whatever you want, Mr. Queen", Cray smiled.

"You can help me with cheap labor in China being transferred here to America, and we can pay them below minimum wage to elevate our profits", Oliver said, and noted that Cray was clearly liking it.

Eliot and Parker shared a little look, reminded of when they had to infiltrate the fashion world to take on Gloria Pan and Russell Pan, who were doing something similar.

Oliver was a good man, but he knew how to play his part quite well.

"I like this offer, Mr. Queen", Cray had to say.

"Indeed, you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours", Oliver said. "So, what do you say, Senator?"

"Glad to have you onboard, Mr. Queen", Cray said, holding out his hand that Oliver shook, before the two got up.

"I'll stay in touch", Oliver assured, then walked out with 'Jacob' and 'Beth'.

Star City, the base

Hardison was on the computers, seeing the entire meeting for himself. Parker had a recorder she'd used to record the entire meeting on video, and Hardison had gotten it all.

Now it was time for him to start doing his thing. "Age of the geek, baby."

Universe-208, Umbara

The 501st Legion's sole Earth human could only watch as the one-manned bipedal…thing, moved in tandem with the rest of Clone army on the march. Steve tried to rack his brain if there was anything comparable to it on Earth, in modern times or as part of Tony's machines, but no, he honestly could say he'd never seen something quite like it.

He felt someone move beside him in his march and found Fives following his gaze. "All Terrain Recon Transport, but everyone calls them walkers."

Steve hummed. "Fitting name."

"Nothing like that on your planet?"

"No, we have tanks, jets, but no walkers." It made Steve wonder just how advanced this Republic and the Separatists were. He had a hard enough time adapting to 21st century technology, now he was stuck in Space with things you would see in a sci-fi flick.

"Don't mean to offend, but your planet sounds pretty primitive", Fives commented.

"How's that?"

Fives gestured to the P14-45 at his waist. "That slugthrower, an actual shield, you don't see them around the galaxy."

"I'm not sure what you mean by slugthrower."

"They're guns that use a chemical reaction to shoot physical rounds rather than the laser in our blasters." Fives tapped the weapon attached to his left.

Curiosity and wanting to know more about what he was dealing with caused Steve to raise a hand toward the blaster. "May I?"

The Arc Trooper saw no problem with it, Steve proved he could be trusted so far. Drawing the blaster, he spun it on his finger before offering the handle to the 501st's new member, before Krell. "It's a DC-17, the best friend you can have in a firefight."

Steve shifted the blaster in his right hand to his left, before aiming down the sight. It felt no different than a regular pistol. "You feed a gas cartridge into it and with a power pack, converts the gas to energy, and then you have a blaster bolt."

"I know a few people who had something like this." Schmidt's own pistol, which could reduce a man to nothing with one pull of the trigger. He couldn't tell if being reduced to nothing was painful, but air was better or worse than being shot by a laser.

Disregarding the dark thoughts, Steve spun the blaster on his finger a few times like Fives, with an extra flourish, before offering it back to its owner. "Thank you."

"My pleasure. Always nice to help a shiny." Fives chuckled, and he heard the other Clones laugh with him. It made the captain deadpan.

"That's not going away any time soon, is it?"

"You catch on quick."

"Can you tell me what that shiny sword by Anakin is like?" Steve then inquired honestly. "It looked like the beam of a star concentrated to look like a sword."

"It is one of the most dangerous weapons in the Universe. All Jedi and Sith have one", Fives explained. "It can cut through flesh and steel. They work on magic crystals or something, I don't know. Been fighting with the Jedi for a while now, and I still don't understand them half the time."

"Right", Steve said with a nod and sigh.

Earth-1

Cray was on the phone with Smith. "I think this is a good deal, Smith."

"I am not so sure",Smith said from the other end. "The deal itself is sound, but I do not like who its coming from."

"Oliver Queen, what's the problem with him?" Cray inquired.

"From what I know of him, he just does not seem like the type of person who'd do this",Smith told him.

"Come on, Smith, he was stranded on an island in the North China Sea. Most likely he hates Chinese people just for that", Cray shrugged.

While he was talking, he did not notice that behind him, Parker had snuck in through the window, and was discreetly opening his drawers, taking some files out, while he wasn't looking.

Suddenly, while talking, he was about to turn back, and Parker jumped behind the drawer cabinet, when his assistant walked in.

"Sir, you need to see this."

Cray turned around, looking at his assistant holding a tablet, and both looked down at it.

Using the opportunity, Parker crawled out from her hiding place, then leapt out of the window with the files, still attached to the cord that she removed after reaching the ground.

Cray's eyes widened in horror as he saw that the payments he'd made to the mercenaries, and later the hostages, were all leaked out to the media. "What the….? NO!"

"What happened, Cray?"Smith asked from the other end.

"Someone leaked my payments to those mercenaries and the hostages to the media!" Cray cried out in horror. "There's more. The prostitutes I frequent, my pictures with them are out too."

"The prostitutes who got beaten up or died?"Smith inquired, and Cray gulped.

"Yes…those."

"Damn it Cray!"Smith snapped. "All right, you don't do anything right now, if you see any news person, just deny everything. I'll do what I can."

The call was cut, while Cray started sweating as he walked out of his office, passing various people, who gave him weird looks too, when suddenly a mic was pointed at his face.

"Senator, what do you have to say about those payments, and the photos?" The news reporter asked him.

"Its all fake! This is a conspiracy to defame me!" Cray cried out, before seeing two of his security people. "How could she get in? Get her out of here!"

The two of them grabbed her and started dragging her away, as the reporter asked. "Can you tell us who'd want to defame you?"

But she was dragged out of his sight before she could question him anymore.

Cray continued to sweat, and even shiver a bit.

Universe-208, Umbara

"Quicken that pace, battalion! This isn't some training course on Kamino."

Steve was close enough to General Krell to hear him "encourage" the troops. He'd met cranky old drill sergeants with brighter personalities. From what the super soldier had seen, Krell was standoffish at best, and downright hostile at worst. One thing was for sure, he had no respect for the Clones, for that alone, Steve did not regard this new Jedi General very highly.

They were marching at a decent pace, demanding anything more would only leave them vulnerable to more Umbaran attacks.

"Are your generals usually like this?" Steve asked Jesse. While commanding officers would be part of columns, they usually were riding jeeps or other vehicles. A General actually on foot with the troops was radically different to what Steve's known.

Jesse shook his helmeted head. "No, I mean, they can be crazy at times, especially General Skywalker, but he takes care of us, and is always in the fight with us. Other battalions though I hear aren't as lucky."

"Has no one ever made a complaint? Written up about their conduct?"

Jesse wanted to laugh but could not find the strength to do so. "A Clone can't complain about a Jedi, they're the Republic's greatest assets. We'd lose the war if it weren't for them."

"It does not give them the right to mistreat you."

Before the tattooed Clone could respond, they both heard a very familiar screech, and coming towards the column, the Avenger and Clones found a pair of banshees.

"Ah great", Steve groaned as the men readied their blasters and opened fire. The banshees however were more nimble than Steve gave them credit for, dodging the blaster bolts as one tried to snatch a Clone from the ground.

That was when Steve acted, leaving Jesse's side to throw his body up high before one banshee could take a AT-RT driver, the tackle had him roll on the ground with the alien animal, the Clones giving them a wide birth from the landing.

Coming to a halt, Steve grabbed the banshee by it's hard, thick shell-like back and forced it to the ground with one hand, his other fist reared back and smashed against the back of the animal's skull, caving the thick shell.

He turned to move for the other, only to find it dropping a Clone, with Krell catching it, forcing it to crash to the ground, keeping it down with his foot before whipping out the same weapon as Anakin, only the two devices at his waist unfolded, forming long handles with two blue and green glowing blades to come to life, and stab down into the animal's skull.

Krell looked around, briefly finding Steve standing over his dead banshee, before the Besalisk kicked the corpse. "Anyone else want to stop and play with the animals?" That harsh, ruthless tone did not sit well with Steve, and he knew it did not with Rex either, even with the helmet. "Didn't think so. Now keep moving!"

As Steve joined the march again, his eyes remained focused on the back of their leader. The more time Steve spent near him, the more unease he felt around him.

Earth-1, Star City, the lair

Hardison was doing his thing while looking at the footage of Oliver's meeting with Cray as he also listened to some music.

"Hey (hey) I Want Your Cray Cray I Want Your I Want Your…"

Eliot and Parker both gave him looks on hearing that song by Trish Walker, the music video having been released four days before Trish went into rehab, causing many venues to sue her as she'd cancelled her first tour.

"What? I like it, okay!"

They just shrugged as Oliver walked in. "Its working. Cray's reputation is already taking huge blows, and we didn't even have to lie so far, just tell the truth."

"All we need is one lie", Parker said with a smirk. "And that will be the final blow."

"Yes, the knockout punch pretty much", Eliot agreed.

"And its about to come in time", Hardison added, when Oliver's phone rang.

Seeing it was 'unknown caller', Oliver accepted it and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hello, Mr. Queen",Agent Smith said from the other end. "I'm someone who works with Senator Cray."

"What can I do for you?" Oliver asked simply.

"I want to talk about your deal with the Senator, in the warehouse owned by Senator Cray in District 7", Smith explained. "You must come quickly, or the deal will fall through."

The call was cut as Oliver looked at the other three. "He said he is someone who works with Senator Cray. From the voice, I'm pretty sure it was Agent Smith."

"What did he say?" Eliot asked.

"He wants to meet me in a warehouse regarding the deal with Cray", Oliver revealed. "I think he is suspecting I'm involved in what's going on with Cray."

"So, it's a trap then?" Parker inquired.

"Always is", Eliot sighed.

"I'll be going, but you two will come with me, in your roles for this con", Oliver explained, the two nodding. "In the meantime, Hardison, wrap this up."

"It will take half an hour more from my end", Hardison assured them.

Same time

Cray was in his office, now biting his nails while thinking what to do, when his assistant walked in. "Sir, the press conference at which you were going to announce you're running for President to everyone, shall you still be doing it?"

"NO!" Cray snapped. "Are you stupid? The media vultures are crucifying me already. And there will be cases upon me soon. Until this is resolved, nothing can be done."

"But sir", the assistant sat down, pouring Cray a glass of beer, before sliding it over to him. "If you don't go out in the conference, it will just make you look worse."

Cray drank the beer, calming his nerves a bit, while the assistant continued. "Why don't you go out there, and speak out against these lies, show that you're not cowering due to them, but that you're brave, and you will fight for the truth? That will at least start bringing people over to your side, and even help you get into office after you're completely cleared."

"That…" Cray trailed off as he lowered the glass, having been calmed. "That actually makes sense. I'll do it. You've made a great suggestion, my friend. When I get to the White House, you'll be my Chief of Staff."

With that, he walked out. "Time to prepare myself for this." He turned back to his assistant. "And, find out who leaked this information outside. We'll deal with that person too."

"Of course sir", the assistant agreed with a nod.

Universe-208, Umbara

"So wait, you were made?"

"Yep, the Kaminoans were hired to produce an army. They hired Jango Fett to use his DNA template to create the Clones, they were the leading experts on the subject. Fett was a Mandalorian, a physically perfectly trained warrior, they figured someone with his genes would make fine soldiers", Kix explained to the confused human.

It should not have surprised Steve, they were literally called Clones, as if they were a separate race, but creating people from the DNA of another to be made as soldiers, it denied them their right to choose.

"Clones are then force grown to adolescence, where we begin our learning of tactics, history, before we reach adulthood soon after, and begin training."

"Force grown…" Steve murmured to himself in horror. "But you never had any childhoods, no normal lives."

"These are our lives", Kix said simply. "We were born, given numbers, trained, and set off to fight."

"Without a choice!" Steve spoke passionately. He chose to fight in the war, but he never wanted to impose that decision on someone else.

"Clones, we don't have many options besides the war. We're soldiers."

"Without freedom", Steve argued. "Freedom is the right of all living things."

Kix sighed. He agreed with everything Steve said, but the reality was much more disappointing. Still, it was nice to hear someone else say it besides other Clones. They weren't treated like normal people in the Republic by most, only as soldiers.

"I wish it was that easy." A new, similar but different voice joined the conversation, Jesse walking by Steve's right. "If we don't fight this war, the Republic wouldn't stand a chance."

"You are laying your lives on the line for them, stripped of any choice. They owe you that chance."

"Most might not see it that way", Kix pointed out.

"We're not droids, but we were literally made for this war", Jesse added.

It did not change Steve's resolve. "What about after this war?"

Jesse and Kix stared at Steve, his stance unwavering, before staring at each other, and back forward.

"I don't know, Steve. I don't know."

Earth-1, Star City

Oliver walked into the warehouse, flanked by Eliot and Parker, and the three saw Smith standing there along with seven more men.

Eliot looked around, and saw one sniper hiding behind a crate, though he did not make it obvious he'd seen the guy, and turned back to his front.

"CIA", Eliot whispered to the other two about the men with Smith.

"How can you tell?" Oliver asked in a whisper.

"Those are very distinctive haircuts", Eliot replied.

"Mr. Queen", Agent Smith greeted.

"Who are you?" Oliver feigned ignorance about his true identity.

"Just someone who cares about Senator Cray, and this country", Smith said with a shrug. "Now, some nasty things about the Senator have been leaked to the media."

"I noticed that", Oliver said in an even tone.

"You don't seem like the kind of person who would make such a deal", Smith had to say. "Not to mention, right after you visit the Senator, these things come out."

Pacing around, Smith said. "A normal person would think this is a coincidence. But I'd say you went there, got access to this info, and leaked it everywhere."

"How'd I know about any of the Senator's private dealings beforehand, though?" Oliver asked, making a point.

"You make a good point, but a man like me cannot ignore such things", Smith had to say, and then a man of his aimed a gun right at Oliver's face. "Goodbye, Mr. Queen."

In a split second, Eliot grabbed the man's wrist, then quickly kicked his feet before pulling him towards himself and spun him around, putting him to his and Oliver's front just as the sniper fired, and it hit the agent in the shoulder, making him cry out in pain.

Eliot grabbed his gun, disarming him, and let the agent fall before throwing the gun itself at the sniper before he could fire a second time, hitting his face and knocking him out.

The other six agents tried to take out their weapons as Eliot rushed and punched one on the face, staggering him away, then spun another's feet from underneath him, before slamming his foot on the agent's face, knocking him out.

He followed up by kicking one more agent on the face, then spun and elbowed another, taking both out.

Parker then did a flip while taking out her taser, and shocked one of the agents with it, while Eliot blocked another's blow, spinning him around and kicking his foot from behind, making him kneel before Eliot grabbed his head and slammed him to the ground, knocking him out.

The one who'd been punched tried to attack, only for Parker to tase him too.

Smith now looked at the three in horror as he started backing off, while Eliot slowly marched towards him with a growl.

Then, Parker tased him as well, making him convulse violently before he fell to the ground, knocked out.

Eliot gave her an annoyed look as she shrugged with a smirk, then tased the unconscious Smith a few more times.

"Let's go", Oliver said, walking off as the two walked with him.

"I think Hardison would be done by now", Parker noted.

"And it'd be right on time, as the Senator's conference is going to happen", Eliot realized.

Senator Cray stood in front of the media, a huge screen behind him, which also showed him while he was being recorded right now.

"I know a lot of you have a very low opinion about me right now", Cray began saying. "Due to what has come out. But I'm here to tell you- it's all lies!"

Immediately, questions started being fired at him by all the reporters, but he held up a hand to stop them, then continued. "All those payments, and the photos, they've been doctored, none of it was me. An investigation is being carried out to find the perpetrator behind this doctored evidence against me, and they will be punished. I will not bow to these lies like a coward. I will face this head-on!"

Then, he started. "And I'm here to tell you all that I'll be-"

At that moment, the screen behind him changed, it wasn't showing the current conference anymore, and the reporters looked at footage of Cray and Smith meeting back in his office.

"The new Director of ARGUS is really trying to get the truth about Lawton and you."

Cray turned around, his eyes widening in horror as he saw the footage play.

"We can't let that happen. Will you deal with her?"

"I've shut her down for now, Senator. If she tries anything else, let's just say ARGUS shall have new leadership soon enough. Do not worry Senator, as long as I'm around, your reputation is safe. This country needs you."

Oliver, Eliot and Parker saw Smith sitting across from Cray, and smirking, Parker reached towards her pocket, activating the recorder already.

Cray turned back to the reporters, who were firing off even more questions now.

Leverage The Team soundtrack plays

Cray started. "This video has clearly been-"

"Miss Na Wei, I was not expecting you."

Cray turned around in horror, and saw his meeting with Oliver Queen, but instead of Oliver, Chien Na Wei, aka China White, was the one meeting with him.

"HUH?" He cried out in horror. "This is…."

"I will back your campaign financially, Senator. I just need your help with one thing."

"Whatever you want, Miss Na Wei."

"You can help me with cheap labor in China being transferred here to America, and we can pay them below minimum wage to elevate our profits."

"I like this offer, Miss Na Wei."

"Senator, are you in league with the Triad?" One reporter asked randomly, as Cray was sweating even more now.

"NO! THESE ARE ALL LIES!" Cray screamed angrily. "ALL OF THIS IS TO DEFAME ME!"

Hardison was on the computers, digitally altering the footage of Oliver's meeting with Cray, while he looked at a photo of China White while she was being interrogated by the police after an arrest, and replacing Oliver with her, and also editing the sound a bit.

Technology on this Earth was a bit less advanced than on his own Earth, so it would be too hard for even the most advanced technology on here to detect what was real and what was doctored in the video, though it'd take Hardison a while to get fully done.

"Age of the geek, baby."

As Cray was breaking down, suddenly, a song started playing.

"Hey (hey) I Want Your Cray Cray I Want Your I Want Your"

Cray turned around to see a music video playing on the screen, a pretty blonde being the singer as she did some strange and erotic dance moves, the backup dancers copying her.

"Hey Hey (hey) I Want Your Cray Cray I Want Your I Want Your Cray Cray Cray I Want Your Cray Cray Cray Cray I Want Your Cray Cray Cray Cray Cray Cray Cray I Want Your Cray Cray Cray Cray Cray Cray Cray Cray I Want Your Cray Cray I Want Your I Want Your"

Some of the reporters were actually chuckling, while another reporter suddenly asked. "Senator, did you pay this woman to make this music video dedicated to you, then killed her like those other prostitutes?"

"NOOOOOOO!"

Star City, the lair

Hardison was laughing as he saw the entire thing on the news. "This is even better than what I was thinking."

At the conference, two men in suits walked up to the podium, as Cray turned to them. "WHO ARE YOU? ARE YOU HERE TO PROVE THIS WRONG?"

"Senator Joseph Cray, you're under arrest for bribery, cover-up and embezzlement", the agent said, as the other then cuffed him.

"NO! THIS CAN'T BE! THEY'RE ALL FOOLING YOU! CAN'T YOU SEE?!"

Parker jumped out after stealing the files from Cray.

Later, Parker handed the files to Oliver, who looked through them.

"These files have information about Cray's deal with Waller to cover up the truth", Oliver said with a smile. "These work well, thanks Parker."

A while later, Oliver handed the files to Lyla. "Hope these can help."

"I'll go over Agent Smith's head, and get these to the right people", Lyla nodded. "Thank you, Oliver."

With that, the screaming Cray was escorted away by the two agents.

"Cray Cray Cray I Want Your Cray Cray Cray Cray I Want Your Cray"

Cray's assistant was seemingly asleep on his chair, when he got injected with something, and woke up with a gasp, seeing someone looking exactly like him staring at him.

"Huh?" He muttered, when his lookalike punched him out.

The lookalike then walked off with a smirk, tearing off his face, revealing it was a mask, and he was actually Ethan Hunt.

Hardison found a picture of Cray's assistant, looking at some info as Hunt noted. "His height and weight, they're close to my own."

"So, what are you thinking?" Oliver asked.

Hunt smirked. "Hardison, can we see what his schedule is like for a bit?"

"Oh yeah, that can be arranged easily", Hardison said with a chuckle.

As Cray's assistant got out of his car to go back home, Hunt injected him with something from behind, knocking him out.

The agent was kept sedated in his own house, while a mask that looked like his face was made.

Hunt wore the mask, and walked into Cray's office.

Disguised as the assistant, Hunt found the evidence of Cray's payment to the mercenaries and hostages, as well as his photos with prostitutes on the computers.

And then, he leaked all of the information out.

Hunt walked out of the building, smirking, as some agents walked in past him to arrest more people responsible for covering up Cray's crimes.

Star City

Smith woke up, and found he was surrounded by some agents too. "Huh?"

One of them cuffed him, and started leading him away. "Agent Smith, you're under arrest for coverup and obstruction of justice."

"This is outrageous!" Smith cried out as his men started being cuffed too.

Oliver, Eliot and Parker walked out of the warehouse, as Oliver was on the phone with Hardison. "Hardison, call in an anonymous tip about the gunshot at our location."

"Doing just that", Hardison nodded.

The lair

Oliver, Eliot, Parker and Hardison watched Cray's arrest on the news, one reporter saying. "This conference has taken a very unexpected turn. Senator Cray seems to have been in a conspiracy with the Triad, and this woman in the video is another victim of him."

Oliver opened the List, looking at Joseph Cray's name, and crossed it out.

Universe-208, Umbara

It had been over 6 hours since the marching had started. Long marches were not new to Steve, though he could say he was out of practice, if his mind and body did not register the action as if he done it day in and day out during the 40s, as opposed to his days of leisure after waking up from the ice.

The only way to occupy himself was to speak to the Clones. His talk with Jesse and Kix stuck with him. For people like the Jedi, who Fives told him were peacekeeping magical warriors, more or less, to lead and use these men in such a manner, creating them for the sole purpose of fighting, it seemed contradictory to their role, other than Krell.

The word that came to mind when thinking about the alien was most definitely not "peacekeeper". Every time he learned more about this galaxy, or more accurately, the Republic, Steve's opinion lowered.

General Skywalker may have believed in it, but Steve met too many politicians who used even war for their own gain for him to trust them. Then there was the reveal of Secretary Pierce's true colors. Politicians, it was one of the first things he and Tony truly agreed on.

"Captain Rex", Steve greeted as he finally made it to the front of the column of Clones and Walkers.

The Clone Captain turned his helmet to meet his fellow captain as he marched beside him.

"Captain Rogers. Getting acquainted with the men?"

"As best I can, sir." There were many Clones, many with similar armor markings, however, they all had some distinction that marked them different. Personalities, tone of voice, Steve held on to each, and tied each distinction with their name, or number in some cases, which rubbed Steve the wrong way. All people should have names.

"Good man, you can't trust a person you don't know in a battle."

"Agreed, sir."

Rex waved him off. "You can drop the formality, Rogers. You may unofficially be a part of the legion, but you're the same rank, and in my view, experience outranks everything."

"How do you know I was experienced?"

Rex turned to him. "You say you were in a war, but how you reacted to some of the Separatists' war crimes upset you. When the ambush occurred, you were already rushing in ahead of even the general, I've never seen that happen before, unless it was with another Jedi. During that firefight, you knew exactly what you were doing. One's actions in battle tells you all you need to know about a person, and it tells me you're a soldier."

Steve lowered his head, humbled by the praise. "Thank you, Rex."

"Don't mention it." Rex looked ahead, watching the new general march on with purpose, not looking back once, unless an order was to be said. It was a big change from General Skywalker, the Clone just hoped the different leadership would not affect the morale.

Their Jedi General was charismatic enough to instill faith in all of them, even if some of his methods seemed…unorthodox. Krell had none of that charm.

"I was wondering something."

Steve beckoned the Clone Captain to go ahead. "Ask away."

"Your war…what was it like?"

He thought Steve hesitated in his steps before resuming, only a brief slip that Rex caught, and the stoic mask Steve adopted made him reconsider his question. Before he could take it back, the man from Earth spoke. "It started with persecution. On Earth, there's different religions based on different regions. A man named Hitler led his country to believe that they were the "master race", and that those of the Jewish faith were lesser than them. They imprisoned the Jewish people in their own country, and spread out across the continent of Europe like a disease, capturing cities, killing any resistance, imposing their laws, their views, on other countries. The Jewish were put into camps, and they were…" Steve shut his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to separate the images of barbed wire, dead bodies, dark chambers, and barrels of gold teeth. "They were killed at best, usually by gas chambers. Others were experimented on."

No wonder Steve held such a reaction about hearing about the Separatists, Rex thought. It was eerily similar to what happened on his planet.

"The war raged for two years before my own country got involved. One of the countries allied with Hitler attacked our shores, and America wanted payback."

"Did you get it?"

"They say we did." Steve locked eyes with Rex' visor. "But after all this time, everything we fought for, doesn't seem to matter anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"There was another group working in the war called HYDRA. They were aligned with Hitler but held their own goals. They found a power source that shifted the war in their favor, made weapons we never would have thought possible, in fact, they're almost similar to your blasters, but upon contact with their energy blasts, men would be reduced to nothing. No bodies, not even clothes."

"Disintegrations?"

Steve nodded. "My unit targeted HYDRA, seeing them as a greater threat than Hitler's supremacist ideals. Once Hitler fell, HYDRA was all that's left, and would have launched an attack that brought the world to its knees if we didn't stop them."

"Sounds like you did."

"…we did." Steve said softly, Rex almost didn't hear him. "Until seventy years later when I found out HYDRA survived in our own government and all our effort was for nothing."

Rex had to stop at what he heard. Seventy years?! Steve, however, only marched on. The Clone could hear the emotion in his voice, he knew that was enough. While still reeling at the revelation their new recruit was over seventy, Rex continued to march.

Earth-1, Star City

Hunt was now back in the lair as Oliver said. "Good job with your role, Ethan."

"We all did it", Hunt simply said, as they shared looks.

"Now Lawton is finally cleared, people will know what he did", Diggle noted, a smile forming on his face.

That was when Rick Flag of all people walked into the bunker, now dressed in an Army Service Uniform, allowing them to see his many decorations on his chest, representing every medal, ribbon, and award he'd received in his career, an eagle on shoulder boards showing his rank to those who were in the military, and on his left sleeve, a "Special Forces" tab, a "Ranger" tab, an "Airbourne" tab, and a red tab shaped like an arrowhead with a black knife at the center, a tab Eliot was very familiar with, the insignia of Delta Force operators.

"You…" Hunt snarled as he aimed his gun, and Parker took out her taser as well.

"I'd love to taze you more times that I've tased everyone else combined", Parker sneered, Hardison clutching his fists as well.

"And I won't ask her to stop", he added.

"Why are you here?" Oliver asked in a growl as well.

"Guys, calm down", Diggle raised a hand, having worked with Flag on the squad before.

"Not until he tells us why he is here", Hunt said, looking at Flag's decorated uniform. "That uniform is not impressing us, considering what you did to our friend."

"I am here….to thank all of you", Flag spoke, taking all of them aback now.

Now, they were all surprised, as Hunt and Parker lowered their gun and taser respectively.

Then, Hunt snarled. "For what? Kicking you out of that window. I can do it again if you want."

"You tortured my friend", Parker sneered. "I don't want a 'thank you' from you!"

"Get out", Hardison added.

"I was following orders, and I learned that if you don't do what Amanda Waller tells you, well, you hear ghost stories on what happens. I get the job done, that's why she recruited me. Doesn't mean I like it", Flag defended himself.

"You're still human, aren't you? You can still think for yourself!" Hardison snapped.

"Things I did, can barely qualify me as human anymore", Flag said in self-loathing.

"I forgive you."

Everyone turned to Eliot in shock, because he was the one who'd said this.

"What?" Parker asked. "But he…remember what he did to you?"

"I do, and I did similar things to people, and worse", Eliot reminded her, Hardison and Hunt. "Back when I worked for Damien Moreau."

That made them pause, while Eliot turned to Flag. "Guess Waller was your Moreau."

Flag didn't say a word, not having expected Eliot to forgive him, while Eliot put a hand to his shoulder. "Now you work under Lyla Michaels, she is a good person. Work for her, do the right thing, make things right. And continue to make things right, because you got more to do, just like I got more to do."

"….." Flag could not find any words to say. Then, he simply said. "Thank you."

Oliver just gave him a slight, curt nod, not wanting to go beyond that.

"I'll start working on it soon", Flag told Eliot, and they noticed him wiping an eye, before he turned around and walked off.

"Guess you saw yourself in him", Hardison realized. "He did remind us of you when we saw his file."

"He has a chance now, just like I got one with you two, Sophie and Nate", Eliot smiled at Parker and Hardison, as they thought of Nate and Sophie too.

"I'm not usually one to have fun, but shall we all have drinks?" Oliver then asked the rest of them.

"Ooooh, I'd love those", Parker said cheerfully. "Let's go guys."

Susie Lawton and Zoe Lawton were in a café, watching the news of Cray's and Smith's arrests, and the truth of Lawton being revealed, when they heard a cough.

They looked up to see Rick Flag standing next to them.

"Yes?" Susie said, not sure why he was here.

"I worked with Floyd Lawton for sometime", Flag told them both. "He was not perfect, but…." He looked to Zoe. "Your father was a hero when it counted. For you."

With that, he walked off, Susie bursting into tears as she remembered the man Lawton was before the army, and realized he'd found that man again at the end.

"Daddy was a hero, wasn't he?" Zoe asked her mom with tears of her own, while Susie hugged her tight.

"Yes, baby", she said while kissing Zoe. "He was."

Eliot, Parker, Hardison, Hunt, Oliver, Sara, Diggle, Felicity, Thea and Laurel were all having drinks as Sara told Diggle. "I guess now you're feeling better, aren't you?"

"He wanted me and Lyla to get back home to our daughter", Diggle remembered. "I hated him for so long, for killing my brother. But he was a better man than my brother turned out to be. At least the debt to him is repaid now."

"Everyone will know what he did, and who the real perpetrator of the situation was", Thea agreed.

Eliot got up and walked to get a little more, when he felt someone trying to put their hand in his pocket.

He immediately grasped the hand, turning to face a woman. "Trying to take my wallet, huh?"

"Not much else I know", the woman sighed. "I can only steal and rob."

"There was a time I thought the same about myself", Eliot shrugged. "What's your name?"

"Lisa Snart", the woman shrugged. "Gonna turn me in?"

"Nah", Eliot let her go, seeing something in her eyes, which he recognized. "You ever think of being a good guy?"

Lisa snorted. "Do I look like a good guy to you?"

"Fair, but what about being a bad guy for the good guys?" Lisa squinted her eyes trying to understand him. "Do what you do, but be a bit more selective in your marks. People who deserve to lose their money, gold, art, whatever. There's no better feeling than seeing those big wigs scream and cry at losing, nor seeing a family with nothing get a better chance because of you. Trust me, it's worth it."

"Trust you? I only just met you."

Eliot shrugged. "I have one of those faces. Besides, see what happened with Senator Cray?"

Lisa's eyes lit up. "Did you have something to do with it?"

"You could say that." Eliot ended with a smirk before walking away, Lisa following him with her eyes, before contemplating what he just said.

A bad guy for the good guys. Sounded like fun, especially if Cray's reaction was taken into account.

She decided she'd talk to Leonard and Mick about this now.

Universe-208, Umbara

The terrain started to get more uneven, and the vegetation grew thicker. The Clones were forced to march in a thinner column, hindering the speed of their progress, but that had to be from marching nearly eleven hours straight after an ambush. It was a reckless strategy in Steve's mind. The men were getting tired, and men reaching their peak were no good until they could recuperate.

"Woah woah woah woah, wait a second, could you repeat that?" The heavy weapon specialist Steve learned was called Hardcase waved his hands about to stop him. He was quick to deduce that Hardcase was eager for action, preferring to fight than march or strategize, but was a kind soul with a wit to him. Steve had to smile at the guy, he reminded him of Dum Dum Dugan, with a shorter fuse.

"I told you, I was rejected by the Army."

Jesse piped up behind them. "Forgive us if we find that hard to believe."

"Yeah, I mean, look at you, you're the physically ideal soldier", Kix added.

"You checking out the shiny, Kix?" Hardcase teased his brother, a laughter going through their small group among the hundreds.

Steve shook his head amused. If there was one thing he missed about the Army, it was the banter and comradery with his brothers in arms, men he would die for as they would for him. He found a second chance of that with the Avengers, it was different but similar. With the Clones, it felt like he was back with the Howling Commandos.

Fives ordered them to calm down before turning back to Steve. "Alright, tell us, why did they reject you?"

"I was short, frail, and sickly."

There was a silence among the group composed of himself, Fives, Jesse, Hardcase, Kix, Tup, and he thought Dogma was close to the front of them.

Jesse marched closer to Steve. "I'm with Hardcase, can you repeat that."

"Do those words have a different meaning on your planet?" Tup was right with him.

Steve ducked his head. Huh, even among an army of force grown clones created by the DNA of one man to fight a galactic-wide conflict, Steve still felt self-conscious. "When the war broke out on my planet, only the able-bodied men were accepted. I kept on getting rejected when I tried to enlist due to my condition. I wasn't always like…this." Steve gestured to himself. "I had to keep lying just to get a chance to retry."

"That had to be illegal", Dogma piped up from ahead of them, and he thought he heard disapproval in his voice.

"Shut up, Dogma." Hardcase spat at him.

"It was, but there were men laying down their lives in the war, I didn't want to do any less than them."

Jesse muttered to himself but loud enough, "If only people in the Republic felt the same way."

"I kept trying, until one day, a scientist asked me if I wanted to kill the enemy. I told him I didn't want to kill; I just didn't like bullies." The thought of Erskine brought a sadness over Steve. He never knew his father, and when his mom died, Erskine, as briefly as he knew him, was the closest thing he had to a father figure. "Dr. Erskine recruited me into a program as a candidate for a performance enhancing super soldier serum."

"Super soldier?" Kix repeated. "Sounds like a Jedi."

"Explains how you beat the general to the fight during that ambush", Fives realized. The conversation, Steve's description of himself, it brought back thoughts of another brother.

"And how you could fight those banshees when we first met", Jesse thought aloud.

"I was one of hundreds of candidates, but Dr. Erskine picked me. The serum worked, but Erskine was killed by an undercover spy. The serum died with him." Or so we thought, Steve said to himself. He'd heard of the attempts to recreate the serum, even Bruce had tried to do so, only to turn out as the Hulk.

Fives suddenly chuckled, drawing their attention to the ARC Trooper. "The shiny remind you of anyone, boys?"

Steve was confused, before Jesse spoke, "I think you're right."

"If he really was skinny and frail", Kix added in thought.

"Who?"

Fives slowed down to march with Steve. "The Kaminoans cloning process isn't perfect. There are some defects, rejected Clones who come up…" undesirable"." Steve didn't like how Fives said that word, and the Clone wasn't happy either, clearly. "One of them was called 99. He wasn't able to fight the war, he was relegated to work in the barracks, weapons, ammo, but he still saw us as his brothers. He could have been bitter, but he never was."

"He only wanted to help", Jesse said, and Steve could hear the fondness in their voices, and the grief.

"What happened to him?"

Fives inhaled deeply, and slowly released the breath. Remembering his brothers' deaths were always hard, but he, Echo, Hevy, they all owed 99. "There was attack on our birth planet, Kamino. We responded. 99 would run across the city, delivering weapons and ammo. Rex, 99, a few other Clones, cadets and I were cut off from the rest of our forces, droids were closing in. We created an ambush, drew the droids in, blasted them apart, 99 kept us well equipped, but we needed more, and so he ran to help." Fives could still remember every bolt hitting 99's sickly body, and yet, he fought as hard as any of them to his duty. "He was a soldier, through and through, and the droids shot him down." It took three shots to put him down, not many Clones could survive one, and 99 still fought on, until the end.

An air of silence engulfed the group. Steve could feel the loss, especially from Fives, and a deep sadness filled him.

"He sounded like a good man."

"He was. He was one of us."

Earth-199999, New York City, Baxter Building

Tony Stark walked onto the 42nd floor after getting off the elevator, finding a bearded man writing some notes.

"I'm here", Tony said, making the man look up at him. "Yes, in the flesh! I know, it's a huge surprise to see my fabulous self in front of your eyes."

"Tony Stark, still the same", the man said with a chuckle as he stood up, walking past his desk towards Tony. "Yet, it is you who need my help. I guess that's you acknowledging I'm smarter."

"Uhh, no!" Tony shook his head. "You just know slightly more about this topic than I do, Reed. For now, that is."

"And until you figure out anymore, I'm still smarter than you", Reed Richards said with a shrug, the two chuckling before they shook hands. "So, Captain America has disappeared, huh?"

"Yeah, into one of those breaches", Tony said with a nod, before taking out the IDIOT. "The breach got sealed, so I tried to modify this to open a way into that world, but its just not working, I really can't tell why, since I modified it the best I could, to try and get a frequency similar to our world, as well as what was coming from the now sealed breach."

"You made this to connect your world to just one other, right?" Reed inquired as he took the IDIOT in his hands, Tony nodding. "That, my friend, was your mistake."

"How exactly would that be?" Tony asked, wanting Reed to explain why he was wrong about this.

"This little device of yours is calibrated so it only reacts to high frequencies from your world, and that other one", Reed explained, giving it back to Tony. "You might have tried to recalibrate it to find Captain Rogers, and open a breach to that other world, but without actually going to that world or meeting anyone from it, its impossible to get a lock on that world's signature fully, and Captain Rogers would be too deep in this other world for this thing to track him solely. So, because of these reasons, you were at a disadvantage from the start, because this device connected you to a world whose inhabitants you'd already met, making it easier to track their world's frequency compared to this one."

"Huh? So that's the reason", Tony realized. "Well then, what do you suggest?"

"I've made progress with my own project of this manner, the one we discussed about a few months ago", Reed revealed to Tony, before gesturing to the IDIOT. "We can add the finishing touches to my machine, calibrate this with it and-"

"It can open a portal to wherever Cap is", Tony realized, Reed nodding. "All right. Dr. Banner is on his way here as well. So, we can begin soon, the moment he gets here to help us out as well."

"Works for me", Reed nodded, when they heard a voice behind them.

"Ah, the big man found time to come here, huh?"

Tony rolled his eyes and chuckled, turning around to face a young blonde and handsome man, who was chuckling at him. "Must be feeling like Gulliver amongst us small people."

"Says the professional motorcyclist with a penchant for ridiculous stunts and the cheesiest one-liners that would make actual cheese blush", Tony quipped. "Good to see you too, Johnny."

"Your 'actual cheese blush' line managed to be cheesier than anything I've ever said", Johnny replied back in kind. "Plus at least I'm hot as a flame, can't say the same thing about you."

"I was more of a stunner at your age than you're right now", Tony simply shrugged.

"The three of you in the same room, I'm surprised its still standing", a beautiful blonde woman with similar physical features to Johnny said as she appeared. "How is the superhero life treating you, Tony?"

"Same way your acting life is treating you, Susan", Tony told her with a shrug as they shared a chuckle.

"Well, whatever is happening, I'm gonna be part of it", a tall and muscular man said as he walked into the room too, while looking at Reed. "Like I said, I'll be with you when it happens."

"And I appreciate that, Ben", Reed told him with a fond smile. "I think we're about to complete it today, and make history."

"Umm, this is about bringing Captain America back, right?" Susan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It is, and its also about making history. We will be the explorers who found a way to OPEN pathways into different worlds!" Reed said, looking very excited about that prospect.

"Don't forget, you'll accomplish because I found a way to at least connect two worlds first", Tony reminded him.

"You're gonna hold that over me, aren't you?" Reed inquired.

"Till your dying day", Tony said with a quip. "And that includes the scenario where I die before you."

"Ghosts aren't a thing, Stark", Reed rolled his eyes.

"Oh I'll prove you wrong about that, like usual", Tony argued back.

"So you prove me wrong? I recall that I told you your ways of researching these breaches are not as effective as mine!"

"That's one time! You thought the Super Soldier Serum could be recreated, but all attempts are failures!"

"I count only one time too! What are the other times, huh? Please do tell. Oh wait, you can't, because there are none!"

"How about the fact that we accessed the Multiverse 10 years before your estimate of it?"

"That doesn't count, because I'm researching the entire thing better than you!"

"Doesn't mean you were a believer from the start."

"There they go again", Susan Storm said with an eyeroll.

"I'd join, but I have no clue what they're talking about", Johnny Storm added with a groan.

"That makes two of us", Ben Grimm muttered.

"Actually, make it three, I only understand this stuff when Reed is explaining it to me directly", Susan said while giving a tired sigh.

This was going to be a very long day for all of them.

Universe-208, Umbara

The march had now reached twelve hours since Krell took command, exhaustion was beginning to take hold. Hardcase was getting louder, but he wasn't the only one, more Clones were starting to voice discontent over the orders, quietly of course.

Steve had no such issues, physically that is, he would have to run for a whole day to get winded, the serum allowed his body to produce less fatigue toxins than a normal human. The men around him weren't so lucky. Several times he had to help a soldier from stumbling, encourage them to keep going.

It did not surprise Steve to see Kix speak up for the Clones to Rex, the medic knew they were tired, so was he, but he had to stay strong for them. He overheard snippets, but Kix was right, the men needed rest. Rex clearly agreed, and heard his suggestion of where to rest, but Krell refused, no, he admonished the idea. Then the general spoke loudly enough that enhanced senses weren't needed as their march came to a halt.

"Captain, do I need to remind you of this battalion's strategic mission in conquering this planet?" he spoke as if Rex had no idea what he was doing. The Jedi pointed back at the rest of the Clones, Steve among them. "Look back. See those platoons? Their mission is to take this city and take it swiftly. Time and rest are luxuries the Republic cannot afford. We are the key to this invasion. The other battalions are counting on our support. If we fail, everyone fails!" He spoke down to Rex as if he knew the Clones better than the captain did his own brothers, it made Steve clench his fists. "Do you understand this? Do all of you understand this?!"

"I understand if you push them anymore, then we won't be helping anyone."

Krell was midway from turning back when he heard a non-Clone speak. Baring his teeth at the disobedience, the Besalisk Jedi watched as Clones parted way for the blue-clad human with a round shield on his back make his way in front of Krell and CT-7567.

"The civilian."

"The volunteer", Steve corrected the alien. If possible, his glare got deeper, it only strengthened Steve's resolve. "General Krell, whether they are trained or not, tired soldiers are ineffective in a fight."

"Let me educate you in the workings of the Clone Army, Captain Rogers. The Clones were programmed and designed to fight, and I intend to put them to good use, else this campaign is lost." The taller alien finished with a sneer.

He saw them like they weren't even human. "Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won with men. They can't win if they are overtaxed before the battle even begins."

"Captain Rogers, I do not know what kind of war you have fought, but this is a planetary invasion. The entire campaign rests on us supporting the other battalions and capturing the capital. You have no footing in this war, no rank, and most certainly no voice in the chain of command, I suggest you remember that."

"I'll remember that if the soldiers fail their mission because of poor leadership."

The planet seemed to go quiet. Rex could only watch with wide eyes at what Steve dared to say to an aggressive and proud Jedi General. Krell pushed Rex out of his way and glared down at the human.

If Steve was being honest, Schmidt looked better than this guy, and the leader of HYDRA had no face.

"Take great care in how you speak, Rogers." Steve saw how all four arms were tensed, and seemed to either be ready to slug him, or pull out a lightsaber. It was no good. Nothing would change the Avenger's mind.

"You try to take the capital with them in their current condition, they'll lose, not because of their incompetence, but because of your inability to recognize the condition of your own men", Steve spoke with reason, with a hint of an insult. This time, Krell's hand actually grabbed the lightsaber hilt.

'Maybe this would work.' Steve thought to himself. "I am sure the other battalions also allocated time for their own men to rest and recuperate before the push to the capital. An hour would be enough to regain their strength and make up for any lost time."

Steve wanted to say so many things to Krell, but he said enough as it is, he had to think of the men.

A battle of wills engaged between the human and Besalisk. Rex's heart hammered against his chest, only getting harder every moment the general's hand laid on his lightsaber. He did not know how Steve was doing it. He was told about the Jedi during the march, he knew their powers.

It did not stop him, it seemed.

What felt like several planetary rotations were merely moments in real time as the general finally released his hold on the Jedi's weapon and turned on his heel, barking over his shoulder. "Half!"

When he was far enough away, Steve released a breath he was holding. Honestly, it seemed like he had to fight the guy. Probably not the best first impression to make after only joining the 501st.

"You have nerves of Beskar." The stunned voice of Fives broke him out his stupor. Steve felt him come up to his shoulder and he was about to respond when Dogma whirled him around.

"What are you doing?! The general gave us orders! If we don't make it to the capital, then the mission failed because of us!"

"Stand down, Dogma", Rex ordered as he got between the volunteer and the taken aback trooper.

"But sir-"

"That's an order", Rex told him before addressing the rest of the 501st who had seen the stare off between Steve and Krell. That won't help morale. "Alright, you heard the General, thirty standard minutes, use them well."

The Clones immediately seemed to relax or nearly collapse at the reprieve. Rex did not like it, but keeping the men and Krell on the same side will be harder than he initially believed. Now he has Steve to deal with.

Kix laid a hand on Steve's shoulder. "Thanks, Steve."

The kid from Brooklyn just smiled. "Don't mention it." Kix left him to make good use of his breather before he faced Captain Rex. He knew this was coming.

"I appreciate what you did, but you were out of line."

"I understand, sir, and I'm ready to face any consequences as a result of my actions."

That was the last thing Rex wanted. The veteran of the 501st held his helmet as he shook his head. "I'm not going to punish you, but you need to understand that the only way things will get done is if the men and the Jedi cooperate. They may not be happy, but they need to power through it."

"Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Rex sighed at the formality but nodded. "Granted."

"While I do understand the need for harmony between grunts and officers, and I appreciate the position you are put in, I refuse to allow anyone suffer any form of mistreatment on my watch. I don't care if I have to fight a General, King, or even a God, I will not stand for the men's needs to be dismissed for one person's ego."

He was making it harder to be mad at him. In fact, how Steve talked made Rex think he was a Jedi, how they're supposed to be from what the Clone has learned after all his time around them.

However, Steve was a soldier, he fought a war, probably more than one if he truly was over seventy years old. Jedi weren't military figures, not until they were made as such when the war broke out. The Republic needed their greatest warriors leading the charge, but just because they were warriors did not make them leaders.

Like how Clones were made as soldiers, the Jedi were made as Generals, unless they were Padawans. Rex knew many Jedi turned into good leaders, the 104th even held the highest morale in the whole Clone Army, but some, like Krell, developed a leadership style that was far different from Generals Skywalker, Kenobi, and Plo Koon.

The union between Jedi and Clones gave the Republic their strength over the Separatists and their droids. Krell did not seem to want any union, but Rex needed to keep one, for all their sake.

That being said, it felt good to watch someone put the Besalisk in his place.

"You're dismissed, Captain Rogers."

"Thank you, Captain Rex."

Tatooine

The hunger. It made and broke Vampires. Blade had studied the species nearly as long as he'd been alive, he knew the effects of the hunger on Hominis Nocturnae. What's worse, he was starting to feel them now.

Since puberty, Blade had never gone hungry like this. The craving, the only thing keeping him alive. The more he drank, the stronger the thirst would be for next time. That, along with Blade's own self-loathing over what he was caused Whistler to create the serum in the first place, as well as the fact that neither of them wanted to steal from blood banks or injure a human.

Blood. Blade did not know how long he could hold off.

It was the only reason he'd accepted Vizsla's offer. He needed to get back to Earth, find Whistler, and inject himself with the serum.

Time was up. Blade opened his eyes, the golden color inherited from his vampiric half. Rising from the lotus position, Blade thew on his armored vest, not that it would protect him from much with hole in the center.

All he had left were his shades, and his sword. Another problem he needed to deal with: guns. He needed his back.

It was why he pushed aside the flaps of his tent and marched to where the speeders were. On getting the signal from the sniper teams, they would ride out and intercept the train.

Bo-Katan was who he found first, talking amongst her fellow Mandalorians. Upon seeing the Daywalker, she dismissed them and removed her helmet.

"Blade."

"Where are my guns?"

Always straight to the point, Bo-Katan discovered that unless he had something to say, Blade kept quiet. "Figured you would ask." Instead of leading him to Vizsla's tent, where the rest of his weapons lay, Bo-Katan instead pulled out a spare blaster from behind her, holstered and ready. "You'll find this an adequate replacement."

"I prefer my own gear", Blade growled.

"It's a WESTAR-35. You won't find a better blaster on this planet."

From behind his shades, the hunter scrutinized her and the blaster. He had to admit, his time with the Death Watch revealed they had weapons and tech more advanced than what Earth had, besides what he'd seen from Stark.

Exhaling through his nose, Blade took the holster, drawing the blaster, checking the sight, feeling the weight and how it fit in his hand.

"Well?" Bo-Katan was curious to hear his reaction to the Mandalorians' favored weapon.

"I've made do with worse."

duch*ess Satine's sister wondered if he was teasing her. It did not matter though, a beeping from her commlink had her snap her head down to check, before throwing her helmet on and call out. "Squad! To the Speeders!"

A group of Mandalorians rushed to Blade's position, mounting them while others got in the seats behind them, Bo-Katan among them.

Realizing he had to join them, Blade attached the holster to his leg like he would his HK USPs, and found the last available seat and reluctantly got on.

"Move out!"

Next thing he knew, Blade's back hit the chair as they went at speeds faster than the Daywalker had ever been.

This was his first time leaving the camp, and aside from imagining the ridiculous look on his face from the sudden speed, he tried to take in the planet to see if there were more than his eyes could see.

There was.

Sand. Lots, and lots of sand.

Bo-Katan was right, this was nothing but one ugly dust ball.

Even with the speed they were travelling at, it took some time to reach the train's route. It made Blade question just how big this place was if you could travel so far and still only find more oceans of sands.

"Remember the plan?" Blade turned his head to see the Kryze woman yell at him.

"Too late now if I did", he yelled back.

That was when he saw it. From a rock formation to their right, the hover train emerged, speeding as fast or faster than the speeders.

'Motherf*cker.' Seeing a hologram was one thing, real life was another.

Then came the laser bolts. Red, burning blasts of energy that Blade has only seen yellow versions of among the camp.

The speeders swerved or retreated to avoid them, making it all the shakier for the driver's Daywalker passenger.

That was when the Death Watch snipers came in, yellow bolts fired from a distance that even Blade's eyes could barely make out, striking the train and the Pyke soldiers on board.

Bo-Katan made a hand signal, and the five speeders and their passengers drove up to the train.

The snipers laid good cover fire, but it did not stop the bolts entirely. He saw a few of the Mandalorians get hit, but the armor, to Blade's own surprise, held up against the blasters with only a grunt to be heard from the wearer. Maybe they have a spare set for him to use.

Blade was not so lucky, every time he saw a projectile coming for him, he had to duck his head. Then he saw another one heading for him. The reflexes granted to him from his heritage allowed Blade to act fast, his right leg switched to the left side as Blade leaned over, his arm holding onto the seat to avoid the red bolts flying over his head while his body was parallel from the ground.

When they finally reached their goal of the third carriage, the Mando passengers activated their jetpacks and flew on board the roof.

Blade needed no gadgets to help him. He pulled himself back in the seat, legs on the cushion before launching himself up beside a taken aback Bo-Katan, taking cover behind an energy shield as he himself kept low to avoid the enemy fire.

Okay, he was really gonna have to talk with these assholes about sharing some of their fancy alien gear.

"Good luck!" Bo-Katan shouted at him as she drew her WESTAR and started to move forward up the train.

"Don't need it." Blade looked back at the last three carriages, Pykes popping out of the to shoot at the invaders. Drawing his new weapon, Blade pulled the trigger as yellow energy bolts shot down any alien he pointed at while moving forward until he reached the hatch, where another Pyke tried to climb out, only for Blade's boot to kick it closed, trapping the alien between it and the train, until Blade pulled the trigger on its head.

Releasing his foothold, Blade kicked the hatch open while the body dropped back inside, firing at the remaining Pykes still on the roofs before hoping down the hole. What he was met with was the corpses of aliens, crates of the supplies Vizsla wanted, and six more Pyke soldiers.

Feeling his blood pumping for a whole other reason, Blade let a fanged grin cross his lips.

A Pyke came up behind him, arm around his neck and gun pointed at his temple.

Blade was ready.

He elbowed the Pyke, making the shot go off in a random direction, then grabbed the Pyke's wrist, making it shoot another Pyke in the front dead, and then he twirled it around as it kept trying to fire, but the blaster bolts all hit other Pykes that tried to come near them, and Blade ended that by making it headshot another Pyke.

As one tried to strike, Blade used the hand of the Pyke he'd grabbed to defend, then decked that one while elbowing his 'hostage's' abdomen, then pinned both down, headbutted his 'hostage', and then made him blast the other one's face.

He let the Pyke go but as that one tried to fire, Blade grasped his wrist, making the blast go haywire again, then snatching the blaster, struck the Pyke's neck, and then chest, taking him down too, before blasting him while he threw the blaster away.

Bo-Katan and the Mandalorians on the train were cutting their way through the Pykes on the roof, while more of their snipers shot in the carriages, trying to take out the armored warriors.

Clearly outmatched, the Pykes were no better than targets to be riddled with blaster bolts.

At the second carriage, another Pyke popped out of a hatch to shoot at Bo-Katan, but before her or her fellow Mandalorians could finish it off, it was pulled back down, followed by the sound of blaster fire.

What came out next shocked her.

"Blade?"

Lo and behold, the dark-skinned warrior was there, grinning at her, no worse for wear.

"Catch you at a bad time?" He asked before descending. Bo-Katan was trying to comprehend the fact that they were two carriages from the front of the train, Blade was dealing with the Pykes left in the back.

Did he cut through all those Pykes by himself?

Bo-Katan, and the rest all realized Blade had held back a lot in his fight against Rix Awaud, perhaps to test how skilled they were. If he'd wanted, he could have ended that fight a lot sooner.

Inside, Blade kicked a Pyke down, and as the others tried firing at him, Blade swiftly whipped out his blaster, and fired back, getting another one in the head. As the one he'd kicked down tried to get up, Blade quickly turned and head-shotted him too.

Then he fired at two more who'd tried to fire at him, killing them both, and spun to dodge a shot at him from one more, while shooting that one dead as well.

After that, he did a roll and took cover behind a small crate, and as one moved towards him, Blade shot him down too, before taking cover again, while another Pyke hid on the other side.

Aiming the blaster, the Pyke slowly started moving towards the other side, but Blade popped out from the other end, behind him, and shot him down as well.

Then moving forth, he quickly shot one in the chest, then turned and shot another one in the head. One suddenly grabbed his blaster, trying to disarm him, but Blade pushed him back, slamming him against the interior of the train, and punched his face, before elbowing him, and then spun, flipping him to the ground, and shot him dead too.

As he moved forth, one more rushed him but Blade spun while drawing his sword and thrust, stabbing him through the head and killing him. Pulling his sword out, Blade sheathed it and took the Pyke's blaster as well.

He saw one more running at him from the side and shot him down, then walked forwards, using both blasters to shoot down even more of them, killing every Pyke he could.

Then, Blade finally made it to the front, kicking down the door, WESTAR held up.

"Stop the-WHAT THE f*ck?!" Blade shouted as he finally saw the driver. It was a f*cking robot! They had robots on this planet?! Later, he told himself, deal with that later, instead, he glared at the machine with his teeth bared and ordered, "Stop the train!"

However, the controls started to spark, and there was something glowing that Blade did not know was meant to glow. He was almost too transfixed on the controls he did not notice the droid make for the window.

Almost.

Before it could shatter the glass, a blaster bolt hit its head and sent the metal body crumpling. Blade stepped over the junk to make sense of what he was seeing, because at the moment, it felt like the train was picking up speed. There was an explosion overhead that had to be whatever rocket thing that had to keep this thing moving.

Vizsla really should have given him something to stop this thing.

Blade tried to make sense of all the monitors, the switches, but it was useless. Only then did he find a lever before the glowing engine, at least he thought it was the engine. Did not matter, it was all he had.

Blade grabbed the lever with both hands, his muscles flexing, and using more strength than he would have thought, pulled it back the whole way.

Already he felt the train shake and slowdown, before tilting to one side, and before he knew, the train was crashing into the sand, sending the Daywalker hurtling forward.

Groaning, he picked himself up, and heard some cheering from outside.

Looks like they'd won, and the mission was successful.

Umbara

They finally made it to the road leading straight towards the capital. Despite the all too brief respite that Steve battled the General for, the Clones made it to their destination with time to spare, all they needed to do now was take the Umbaran capital city.

The Clones made their gratitude plain to see for Steve, though many of them still called him "shiny". The captain had to admit though, the nickname was growing on him, if nothing else than the hazing the title was meant to be, Steve saw it as the Clones welcoming him to their ranks. Even Tup joined in on the teasing, and he was practically a shiny himself.

It reminded Steve so much of his days in the Army, well, the days after he officially joined the 107th and formed the Commandos. Even though his time with the 501st had been brief, he had grown fond of every one of the Clones.

Steve stayed with Fives while Rex debriefed the plan with Krell. The ARC Trooper told the Avenger the plan, and Steve had to give Anakin praise, it was a good strategy. Multiple focused attacks by small groups, the Umbarans wouldn't know what hit them, which was a key advantage considering the weaponry of the Umbaran militia shocked even the experienced troops of the 501st.

There was still so much they hadn't seen yet by the residents of Umbara, and if Steve was being honest with himself, it unnerved him more than anything HYDRA could have possibly had in the war.

"Hope you can keep up, shiny", Fives teased the captain beside him. Even if they had little time to rest during the whole campaign, the gesture made by their new member did not go unnoticed.

Already the ranks were starting to talk about Steve's and Krell's near skirmish. Fives did not care, Steve stood up for them, treated them like General Skywalker would, he may be calling the man shiny, but he was grateful to have him on the campaign.

"Can you?" Steve quipped back, making the ARC Trooper laugh briefly.

"Don't worry, Fives, I'm sure the super soldier can carry you over your shoulder if you can't keep up." Hardcase slugged the last member of Domino Squad's shoulder, a few of the Clones hiding their own amusem*nt as best they could before they left the two.

Fives did not react besides returning the slug on the Z-6 blaster carrying Clone as he passed by.

"Super soldier." Fives shook his head at the notion. Would have been nice if the Clones were similarly enhanced.

"Better than shiny", Steve added as he looked towards the main road.

"Don't push your luck, rookie."

The main road was lit up in a similar manner as bioluminescence on the rest of the plant and animal life on the planet, lines of green lights subtly lighting up the path, not that it did much in the shadowy world of Umbara.

Steve looked further down that road and could not help but feel unsteady. It was like an invitation for them to follow the trail. It did not sit well with the Avenger.

"Eyes up, shiny, Rex is back." Fives jerked his head to the incoming officer.

Rex suggested Steve stay away from Krell so as to avoid any more "incidents" for the time being. Knowing what Rex was trying to do, Steve agreed without a fuss. Rex was responsible for both the general and the rest of the men, it was not an easy task when Krell was such a violent and careless brute, in Steve's opinion.

Still, Steve was glad that Anakin's last command would be followed.

Or so he thought, because what Rex said dashed all those hopes.

"We're gonna do what?" Steve had to ask again.

"General Krell decided that a full-frontal assault would be faster than any set of surprise attacks." Rex' reluctance was obvious. He disagreed with this plan, no, he detested Krell's strategy. There was no choice though, no matter the alternative, Krell refused to listen.

Even if a full-on attack allowed them to take the capital, the Umbarans were so far proving to be masterful when it came to guerilla tactics. An obvious target like the road, Rex couldn't even think about it.

"Rex, that's crazy."

"It's suicide." Steve backed up Fives.

"Generals Kenobi and Tiin need us to aid their assault. We can argue about this, or we can move and get the job done." Rex stressed with finality.

"We'll be wide open from all sides. If the Umbarans know we're coming, and they will, we'd be sitting ducks."

Arguing with Steve was the last thing he wanted, especially considering he agreed with him. "Those are our orders." Rex managed to keep the regret out of his voice.

However, Steve's face became stoic, standing tall as he told the Clone Captain. "Orders are only as good as the man who gives them."

Rex adopted a similar mask. "All the same, we have our mission."

Steve had seen reckless plans, Steve had seen stupid plans, but never had Steve been part of suicidal plans. What was worse, Rex and the Clones had no choice but to obey.

With many reservations, Steve stood straight and saluted. "Sir yes sir." He left the ARC Trooper and Captain to find the other Clones he had grown close to so far in the campaign.

Watching him go, Rex already knew what Fives was about to say. "Steve is right, an attack like this will only make us lose men. There will be none of us to help the other battalions."

"I may not agree with it, but General Krell is right. We can't delay, the capital is key to end this campaign."

"And where is Krell during this assault?"

This is where he'll lose him, Rex thought. "The General has elected to take control of the reserves and remaining walkers."

"He's not even fighting?!"

"Fives-"

"We both know what a Jedi can do in a battle!"

"We have our orders, Fives. It's our duty to see them through." Rex spoke with every authority he had. It was enough to quiet Fives' temper. For now.

The shiny he met on the Rishi Outpost only nodded his head and donned his helmet, leaving the Captain alone to sigh. Things were starting to unfold, all thanks to Krell's appearance.

Good soldiers follow orders, Rex had to remind himself. Good soldiers follow orders.

Earth-21, Metropolis, LexCorp

Lex read the newspaper, in which Superman and Batman were hailed as heroes by the Daily Planet, being called the World's Finest.

Sighing, he tossed the newspaper away, while looking at the speedster, who now lay in a secret experiment room Lex had in his own tower.

Lex had taken off the mask, seeing that behind the Demonic veil, was just a man. He had lost an arm as well in whatever altercation he'd been in.

From the Demonic mask and those claws, Lex could tell this was not a heroic speedster. As a machine of his treated the man's stump, Lex noted he'd be quite useful.

He looked at the readings, and saw the speedster's vitals were quite low.

"A speed drug, hmmm", Lex muttered, seeing that its wearing off was the cause of the low vitals, and there was cellular deterioration within this speedster too. "I know how that can be fixed."

He looked at the stump. "But first, we should something about the rest of you."

Lex hated Supers. As did Zemo. But using people with powers for his own goals, that was not new to Lex, and he was sure his new ally would approve too.

Universe-208, Umbara

Umbara's capital city seemed to be the only source of light on the entire planet that did not originate from the bioluminescence of the planet's flora and fauna. From what the Avenger could make out, though even without enhanced eyesight, he could see a bright beam of light shoot upwards from tall structures in the distance, that same light radiating across the whole city and beyond, giving the capital a glowing aura. Steve had to admit, his curiosity was piqued at the thought of what the city looked like up close.

If they get to the city, Steve had to remind himself as he marched with half of the 501st on the road leading them to the city, the only sound coming from the walkers' mechanical footsteps. Surrounded on both sides by thick vegetation, where an enemy could lay in hiding anywhere, waiting.

Captain America was not the only one concerned.

"So, why aren't we sticking to the original plan and probing the city defences first?" Tup asked. Steve had to remember that he was the real latest recruit, the shiny before Steve. He had yet to realize the truth of the situation.

Of course, it was Hardcase answering him. "We can do this. Let's take 'em!"

"Yeah, leave it to Hardcase to dive in head-first", Jesse sarcastically suggested.

"The general's new plan is reckless." The legion's ARC Trooper spoke up his opinion, and it was shared by many.

"You ever think that maybe the general knows what he is doing?" Dogma snapped back. Steve pitied the Clone. He was too blindly loyal to see the truth, but it may be the only kind of life he knew, the Clones were created to fight the war.

Fives walked faster next to Rex. "I know you think this is a bad idea." Despite their words earlier, Fives knew Rex as a tactical expert. He remembers when they, and Echo, would devise strategies, and even their worst ideas were better than whatever Krell ordered.

Rex glanced at Captain Rogers, who had yet to say a word since their last conversation. The truth was that Steve did not speak to Rex, not out of anger, but due to the need to focus, keep his senses alert. There was an attack coming, he knew it.

The Clone Captain turned back to his brother before looking ahead. "I raised my objection to General Krell's plan but he didn't agree. So, this is it."

"Well, what if he's wrong? Then-"

Fives was interrupted when an arm across Rex' chest made both Clones stop. They found Steve, whose eyes were flickering over the road.

"Call a halt, now!"

"Platoon, HALT!" Rex cried out without questioning the super soldier. He understood why he followed the orders, but no, the look in Steve's eyes was something else. "What is it?"

"This is too easy. When we were pushing the Germans back, they would dig landmines to cover their escape and slow us down." There was a panic in his voice that Rex never heard before.

Flashbacks flooded Steve's mind. Men missing legs or their entire lower halves gone. So much blood, so much screaming as he held dying soldiers in his arms, screaming for their mothers, for the pain to stop, for God.

Never again.

Rex turned to the ARC Trooper. "Sweep 'em."

Steve did not focus on the device Fives took out, nor did he pay attention when his gut feeling was proven right. He listened and listened hard.

There!

In a blur of movement, the shield was thrown fast at one of the trees looming over the Clones, and they watched as it struck something that was thrown out of the tree and crashed to the ground.

A dead Umbaran with its helmet cracked and neck snapped.

"AMBUSH!"

Chaos erupted on the road as Umbarans emerged from the darkness of their planet and opened fire. Blue and green blaster bolts filled the air as an electromagnetic plasma fired upon the legion, destroying a walker, the explosion sending parts and the driver hurtling.

Steve, Rex, and Fives quickly drew their weapons and returned fire. The First Avenger was happy the Umbarans did not wear armor that could protect against his bullets. All the same, while recalling his shield with the magnet in his arm, the Vibranium heeding his call much like Thor's hammer, to protect his body and the man next to him, Steve ensured he did not miss, aiming for their heads.

"We're completely exposed!"

"Hold your ground!" Rex ordered as he went back-to-back with Steve. A frustrated grunt behind followed by a click, then metal sliding on metal before the slugthrower could fire again. The things held so little ammo compared to even blaster pistols.

Steve turned his aim upward, taking out every Umbaran he could see still in the trees. When one was dropping beside him, Steve's leg lashed out in a roundhouse kick that struck the Umbaran midair, launching the alien hard into a comrade.

"You want a piece of this?!" Hardcase' blaster cut through the Umbaran ranks, but there were so many that it barely slowed them down. Steve heard another incoming whoosh, and threw his shield at another plasma round, the contact with the Vibranium created an explosion that sent him and other Clones crashing, but not dead.

Getting to his feet, Captain Rogers rushed to the first trooper he could reach. "Come on, soldier!" Steve helped the Clone to stand.

But could only watch as his head snapped back and lifelessly dropped, had Steve not caught him.

For a moment, the blue/white armor disappeared, and a man in an olive-green uniform marred by blood and dirt was in his arms instead.

Feeling an undeniable rage, Steve panted hard before laying the Clone down gently and taking his DC-15S, unleashing the energy rounds into every Umbaran he could see. Moving as he fired, he let an Umbaran get close in an attempt to fire point blank shot, only for Steve's new blaster to push down his own alien one, allowing a clear shot for blue bolts to strike his head, then chest.

Steve then grabbed the body by the arm and over his shoulder, taking blaster bolts intended for the human as he retreated back, only to turn and hurl the corpse at high speed at a trio of incoming Umbarans intending to attack the Clones from behind. He was a blur as he was over them, pulling the trigger on each before they could scream in their language.

Another Umbaran dropped down, intending to land on him, but Steve stepped aside, letting the alien land, while the magnet activated returning the Vibranium shield to his arm, and the edge struck the enemy's face with unnatural force, caving it in and bursting from the cracked skull, mixed with gas from the destroyed helmet. Steve did not focus on that only sliding to his left to use his shield to deflect green bolts from hitting another Oz.

More plasma rounds came, and Steve hurled his shield hard to intercept, the explosion occurring harmlessly above them, but the firefight was heated as ever until the ammo in his DC-15S ran out, making him drop the gun. His shield recalled, another Umbaran rushed him, but the captain grabbed his rifle and struck with his Vibranium in one movement, taking the enemy's weapon and swinging it at its head, the helmet destroyed, and the jaw and rifle broke off.

"We're blown!" Kix yelled desperately to the commanding officer.

"The Umbarans are advancing!" Fives fired at the enemy before quickly turning before an Umbaran sneak attack, shooting point blank at the chest.

"Make 'em eat heat!" Despite everything, Hardcase lived off the fight and continued riddling the militia with his Z-6.

Steve pulled an Umbaran close, using it as a human shield from blaster fire before taking the rifle and giving them a taste of their own weapons. He turned to find his fellow captain, when the scene truly hit him.

Both sides, green blaster bolts bombarded their men. What meagre cover found in the destroyed walkers was useless, some Clones did not even have cover, needing to dodge, or else be killed. That was what was happening. So many Clones falling. Dead. Completely exposed and ripe for the picking by the Umbaran militia. They did not need to die.

A burning pain snapped Steve out of his stupor, making his body recoil to his right, dropping the rifle in his hand to clutch the wound on his shoulder. His blood felt like it was boiling, his armor and skin melting from the energy that struck him. Gritting his teeth, Steve found the culprit closing in, aiming for his head, but the soldier rolled forward, avoiding the shot before sweeping the legs from under the Umbaran, that was when Steve raised the shield in his good arm and struck down on its neck, hard.

The alien's expression was shocked, and it would remain that way, as the gas from the helmet leaked out from the new gap between the wearer's neck, and the rest of the body.

"We need to fall back!" Steve shouted over the blaster fire, pushing through the pain to start running at a close Umbaran with his shield taking the bolts before smacking the rifle to the side and push kicking the alien hard enough that the impact against a tree broke bone, at the least, before the WWII veteran spun and grabbed the heel of a dead Umbaran and threw it into more of its kind. Steve snapped to his fellow Captain's direction. "Rex!"

"Get them to follow us! If we can draw them out, we can see them!" Rex ordered as he dodged bolts while dual wielding his DC-17s.

"If we can see them, we can hit them!"

"All squads, pull back now!" Rex gave the order to retreat. Retreat they did. The Clones quickly abandoned their positions, making a run back to the reserves waiting at the other end of the road. Steve took up another blaster and waited until the last man passed him before joining him, firing as best he could with an injured arm, making sure each pull of the trigger was a kill.

Another explosion, another walker lost, Steve was quick to abandon the blaster and attached the shield to his back, moving in to pick up two of the Clones scattered by the blast. With one over his unharmed shoulder and another under his injured arm. Steve's enhanced speed would allow him to catch up with the Clones in the lead, but he refrained from pushing himself. He could help more. But the heartbreaking reality of war hit him as another Clone beside Steve was struck by a blaster bolt.

He couldn't save everyone.

Gritting his teeth, Steve pushed himself to remain with the main body of the retreat, not slowing down even as more explosives bombarded their position. Steve saw the rest of the reserves come out of their cover, and he found the energy to rush ahead to get the two men in his arms to safety, leaping over debris and rocks until he was far enough behind friendly lines to set them down. Propping the Clones against a tree, Steve quickly tore off their helmets, their identical faces and haircuts meaning little to him now as Steve checked the neck of the first for a pulse. None. Desperately he reached for the neck of the other and exhaled in relief. Faint, but there.

"KIX! MEDIC! I NEED A MEDIC!" Steve yelled for help. Another Clone rushed to Steve's side, not Kix, but he had a medkit in hand.

It was only when Steve stepped away, did he notice the blaster fire was over. The men were safe. For now. What was left of them.

Never has Steve been part of a more reckless, suicidal plan. All those men, dead. For what reason? Steve clenched his fists hard enough he heard his knuckles pop. The wound in his shoulder was forgotten as he moved forward. To where Krell was barking at Rex.

"You've pulled your forces back from taking the capital city." Krell reprimanded the Clone. "The enemy now has control of this route. This entire operation has been compromised because of your failure!" The Besalisk finished by harshly jabbing his large finger against Rex's shoulder.

Fives had enough. "General Krell, in case you haven't noticed, Captain Rex just saved this platoon. Surely you won't fail to recognize that." The ARC Trooper did not hide his contempt as he spoke up in defence of his brother.

Krell coldly turned to the Clone, one of his hands pulling out his folded lightsaber, and igniting a green blade, to the shock of Fives, and the other Clones.

Steve snapped.

Suddenly bursting with speed, he shoulder-charged Krell away from Fives, the General hitting the ground, but got back to his feet with a snarl.

"This mission was a failure the moment you changed the orders!" Steve snarled back. The Besalisk's face was murderous as the deactivated lightsaber, turned off in the fall, came back to life while he marched to Steve. "If you were so sure about your own orders, then maybe you should've led the charge, see how far your inferior tactics would go in the face of a superior enemy."

"What YOU face is a court martial, civilian!" Krell growled as he held up the lightsaber to Steve's face, but was taken aback by the hiss of the green blade meeting the face of Steve's shield. In the glow of the lightsaber, Steve and Krell's faces met with unrivalled contempt for the other.

"Volunteer, and I'll take my chances."

Those feelings of hate, so dangerous for a Jedi, were bubbling to the surface in both.

Until Rex moved between them both, Steve being pushed back, and the Clone being unphased by the lightsaber. "Sir, if I may address your accusation." Steve backed off as Rex desired, but Captain Rogers and General Krell never broke eye contact. "I followed your orders, even in the face of a plan that was, in my opinion, severely flawed, a plan that cost us men," Rex spoke with a fiery tone that only got hotter the more he spoke, unleashing his voice finally against the general, until ripping off his helmet. "Not Clones! Men!" Krell finally turned away from Steve to look at the Clone Captain. "As sure as it is my duty to remain loyal to your command, I also have another duty, to protect those men." Rex gestured to the Clones, and Steve, watching the confrontation.

Steve and Fives watched proudly. Rex was loyal to a fault, but even he could not hold his tongue anymore. He named his place, a commander, and leader, of the men around him.

Krell's bared teeth were visibly gritted in annoyance, before he closed his eyes and seemingly calmed himself, the lightsaber deactivated and sheathed at his waist again, and addressed the Clone in a tone that was…complementary? "You have a spark of tenacity, Captain. I'll give you that. I know that I don't command like the Jedi you are used to serving, certainly not like General Skywalker, but I have my way. It may be difficult, but these are difficult times. And it's proven effective. I suppose your loyalty to you men is to be commended. They seem to admire this. That's important to an effective commander."

'What would you know.' Steve thought with derision. Throw enough soldiers at a problem and expect it to be solved. It was a child's tactic more than anything. Krell was no leader. He was a butcher.

"All right, Captain Rex, your opinion has been noted. Dismissed." For the first time, Krell actually used his name, before folding his arms and walking away.

Fives approached with a surprising light-hearted quip. "I think he almost complimented you."

"INCOMING!" Steve shouted before throwing his shield for the third time another electromagnetic plasma blast. The shield saved a walker, but it didn't stop the second from destroying another. It was a precursor to more waves of Umbaran unveiling themselves, green blaster bolts filling the air as the Clones returned it with equal measure.

Drawing his pistol and calling his shield, Steve joined Rex and Fives as they moved forward to meet the enemy. "The Umbarans must've regrouped for a counterattack."

"Everyone, we must hold this position!" Rex ordered as the Clones and Avenger opened fire with energy and bullets.

"You think General Krell still intends on taking the capital using this strategy?" Fives had to ask, but Steve knew the answer, as did Rex, he knew.

"I don't know. I'll get back to you on that if we survive this battle." Rex' grim tone told Steve all he needed to know.

"We'll hold you to that." Steve said from beside him, before noting the damage done to his shield.

The Vibranium held up against the glowing green blade, but the color didn't. The red, white, and blue of the shield was burned away in a line that spread to the tip of one of the star's points. Putting that out of the way for now, Steve returned to the Umbarans.

The trio didn't speak again unless it was to bark orders. Their goal was simple, survive the attack.

With that, the trio of brothers-in-arms buried themselves into the firefight.

However, within the mind of the super soldier, the image of Krell towering over Fives and igniting his weapon that was said to cut through anything refused to leave. It made Steve's blood boil more than the bolt that hit him.

Krell was a bully who used his power to dominate. That will be a problem, because Steve refused to cow to his ways, and knew, Rex and Fives would refuse to as well.

Steve heard from the men of the powers the Jedi had over what they call the Force. Sensing thoughts and feelings were among them. There was no hiding his feelings, Steve thought, let Krell hear them. Let him know what this old soldier thought.

It was why he made a promise to himself. He would do everything in his power to save as many men as he could from suffering under Krell's command.

Even if it cost Steve his life.

Chapter 15: Once More, With Feeling Part 1

Chapter Text

Earth-205

Dean and Sam were in the Impala, the former driving it forth as Sam was saying. "So, you pretended to get beat up by a kid, huh?"

"And you died…again!" Dean said with a groan. "Let's hope it doesn't continue to be a thing."

"Yeah", Sam said with a sigh, when suddenly a breach appeared inches from the front of their vehicle. "Dean!"

"Damn it!" Dean tried to steer away, but it was too late, as the Impala went through the breach, the two Winchester brothers inside it.

Then, they saw many figures.

First, they saw a large, muscular, red-skinned ape-like man with a tail, cloven hooves and an oversized right hand made of stone, while he'd circular stumps on his forehead resembling goggles, and he carried an oversized 22 mm four-round revolver.

Next, they saw a being wearing some kind of a suit, including a mask, that had yellow slits where the eyes were supposed to be, and there was a long cape flowing behind him.

Then, they saw a creature in a swamp, seeming to be made out of the green of the Earth, its eyes red.

Next up, they saw a person in olive green armor with a helmet that had a visor to look through, and in his hands, he had a M6D Pistol. He stood 7 feet tall.

After that, the two of them saw a yellow, blue and grey giant robot-like being.

Then, there was a man in blue overalls, red cap and a moustache. Along with him stood another man with similar facial features, but his cap was green.

After that, there was a hedgehog of all things with blue fur covering his body, and peach skin covering his arms, muzzle and torso.

And then, there was a man with facial and physical deformities, hair surrounding his head but not on the top, his jawline warped and elongated with improper cheekbones on one side. He seemed to have a wound on his face. There was something wrong with his left eye, and he carried a hatchet in his hand.

Then, they saw a pale man with bleach blonde hair, wearing a black leather duster, who seemed to be walking around.

That was the last thing they saw before the Impala landed on solid ground, and the two brothers gasped before panting, sharing a look of shock.

"What the…?" Dean trailed off.

"Yeah…" Sam nodded, as they looked around, seeing their Impala was near a graveyard.

"Of all the places in another world we could land in", Dean muttered with a groan.

They got out of the Impala, as Sam muttered. "So now we world-jumped as well, huh?" Then, they heard what sounded like singing. "Do you hear that?"

"Yeah, I hear that", Dean said, before they looked towards the graveyard, and saw Buffy there!

"Ah, its Buffy, phew!" Sam sighed in relief. "At least we fell into a friendly world."

"Umm, she is the one singing", Dean noted as they walked into the graveyard, closer to her.

She was fighting Vamps and other Demons, and singing at the same time.

As they watched, even the Vampires and Demons were doing some kind of dance, and when they walked closer, they could hear the singing more clearly.

"She is pretty well with fiends from hell. But lately even we could tell-"

Buffy flipped up, taking the sword out of the ground.

"That she's just going through the motions."

She grabbed the Vamp who'd punched her down and struck him with the sword.

"Faking it somehow."

She threw the first Vamp from whom she'd gotten the sword away, then stabbed the horned Demon through the stomach, before retracting it and walking off.

"She isn't even half the girl she…oooowwwww…"

He fell down dead.

Buffy walked to the tied up guy. "Will I stay this way forever?" She chopped off the ropes holding him. "Sleepwalk through my life's endeavor."

The handsome tied up guy turned to her- "How can I repay-"

She cut him off. "Whatever."

Buffy then walked off, throwing the sword to a side. "I don't want to beeeee-"

She walked onto a higher platform ringed by statues. "Going through the motions. Losing all my drive. I can't even see, if this is really me."

The Vamp she'd knocked down returned.

"And I just want to be", she staked him and raised her arms to either side. "Aliiiiiiiiiiveeee."

"What's that about?" Sam wondered. "Do people here sing and dance all the time? Is this a musical world?"

But now Dean, who'd caught the important bits of the song, seemed to be in a trance of his own, as he remembered Buffy's depression due to being resurrected, and how it had conflicted with his view where he was happy to be back, especially since he'd been in actual Hell.

He was going to make sure she could see the bright side in this too.

Suddenly, rock music started playing out of nowhere, making Sam look around in surprise, while Buffy turned around, her eyes widening on seeing Dean and Sam here.

As a Vamp walked towards them, Dean took out his gun and shot it while singing himself. "I'm at war with the world and they…try to pull me into the dark."

The Vamp staggered back as Dean looked up, while Buffy staked it.

"I struggle to find my faith. As I'm slippin' from your arms."

Buffy looked at Dean and twirled her stake, looking at him almost pleadingly. "It's getting harder to stay awake. And my strength is fading fast."

Then she looked up too. "Will you breathe into me at last?"

Sam was just looking between them in shock while Dean and Buffy then held hands and spun in a circle, Dean firing at arriving Demons while Buffy staked arriving Vamps, and Dean sang. "I'm awake, I'm alive! Now I know what I believe inside…Now it's my time. I'll do what I want, 'cause this is my life!Here!"

"Right here!"

"Right now!"

"Right now!" Buffy let Dean go and questioned him again."Can I stand my ground and never back down?"

Dean touched his heart while looking at Sam. "I know what I believe inside. I'm awake and I'm alive."

Then Dean walked forth and continued to sing. "I'm at war with the world 'cause I…Ain't never gonna sell my soul."

Sam looked down now, remembering how he was drinking Demon blood, realizing these lyrics struck a chord with him.

Dean continued. "I've already made up my mind. No matter what, I can't be bought or sold."

Sam wondered if he could say the same about himself, while Buffy sang as she looked between Dean and the sky. "When my faith is getting weak, and I feel like giving in, can you breathe into me again?"

Dean shot another Demon down, as Sam struck one more and kicked him back, Dean shooting that one too while singing. "I'm awake, I'm alive. Now I know what I believe inside…Now it's my time. I'll do what I want, 'cause this is my life! Here!"

"Right here!" Buffy staked a Vamp.

"Right now!"

"Right now!" Buffy spun and kicked another Demon down, then stabbed it with the stake, simply killing it, and now Sam joined her as both sang."Can I stand my ground and never back down?"

Dean whacked a Demon with the butt of his gun, staggering it back, before shooting it. "I know what I believe inside. I'm awake and I'm alive."

And then, the three walked forth together as Sam sang. "Waking up, waking up. Waking up, waking up. Waking up, waking up. Waking up, waking up."

Dean now looked up, then at Sam, looking between both. "In the dark, I can feel you in my sleep. In your arms, I feel you breathe into me", in a rare moment of affection, Dean gave Sam's head a loving pat."Forever hold this heart that I will give to you." Then he looked back up."Forever, I will live for you!"

After that, Dean seemed to play air guitar with his gun of all things, the sounds of the guitar riffing being heard all over, while Buffy staked another Vamp, and then Dean twirled his gun before holding it up."I'm awake, I'm alive. Now I know what I believe inside…Now it's my time. I'll do what I want, 'cause this is my life!"

"Here!"

"Right here!" Both Sam and Buffy sang together now.

"Right now!"

"Right now!" Sam and Buffy both questioned. "Can I stand my ground and never back down?"

Dean looked at them firmly. "I know what I believe inside. I'm awake and I'm alive."

The three walked forth as one once more.

"Waking up, waking up. Waking up, waking up. Waking up, waking up. Waking up, waking up."

And then, the sound of music finally stopped, as the three looked between each other, coming to their senses.

"Dean? Sam?" Buffy questioned. "You guys are here?"

"….Yeah", Dean told her while looking around. "So, is your world a musical, Buffy?"

"No, I'm just as shocked as you guys are", Buffy had to say.

"So, the moment we come here, something is causing people to dance and sing, huh?" Sam realized.

"Now ain't that great?" Dean groaned.

"How did you two get here?" Buffy inquired.

"We were driving, then a portal opened in front of Baby, I couldn't steer away in time, and here we are", Dean explained to her.

"Baby?" Buffy questioned.

Before Dean could respond, Sam gestured to the Impala, as Buffy realized. "Oh!"

"So, something must be causing this, right?" Sam asked Buffy.

"That would be true", Buffy nodded. "You two can come with me, we'll find out together."

"Or, we can split up and find out", Dean said with a shrug.

"No offense, but you're new to this world", Buffy pointed out.

"We go to new towns to investigate supernatural occurrences all the time", Dean explained to her. "And this time is no different, except it's a new town in a different world."

"Right", Buffy realized they had a point. "Well, if you get anything, meet me and my friends at the Magic Box, it's a magic shop in the town, run by my Watcher."

"What's a Watcher?" Sam questioned.

"My mentor", Buffy clarified, then shared a look with Dean. "About what just happened during our song…."

"I know what I said last time, and I mean it, but I know it will take time", Dean assured Buffy, who gave him a nod. "Just keep that in mind."

Buffy looked at them again, then walked off. "Well then, see ya around guys."

Dean turned to Sam. "And what were you singing about?"

"Uhh…" Sam trailed off, not wanting to talk about the fact that he'd drunk Demon Blood. "Its just…how Uriel was on Halloween, I'm questioning things is all."

"I get it, Sammy, but we'll get through this", Dean assured him as they walked to the Impala, sitting back inside. "Let's go out for a night in town in another world!"

"Yeah", Sam muttered, as Dean started the car, and they drove away.

Earth-199999, Bowie, Arizona

Rambo rode his horse back to his ranch, when he saw a familiar face standing there, waiting for him. Seeing him, Rambo quickly kept his horse back in place gently, then got off, walking to the Navajo man and greeting him with a little bow, that the man returned.

"Chief Chayton",Rambo called him by name, not believing he was here, at his home, after all this time. He'd aged by a lot since they'd last met, but Rambo would recognize him anywhere.

"John", Chayton called him by name as well, grasping his shoulder and chuckling. "You've grown a lot, little one."

Rambo chuckled at that himself, and gestured to his door. "Come in, let's eat something."

"No", Chayton shook his head, to Rambo's surprise. "I would love to, but that is not what I'm here for."

Hearing his tone, Rambo knew something was wrong, and inquired. "What happened?"

"The people, they are disappearing!"Chayton said desperately, Rambo narrowing his eyes at that. "We found bodies…of them, and animals! The skin was gone, and the skulls and spines were ripped out."

Rambo looked down, clearly shocked by this information, as Chayton begged him. "Your mother was one of us. You were one of us. Please, we need your help, John."

Rambo looked back up, a slightly conflicted expression on his face, as he looked at Chief Chayton.

Universe-208, Umbara

The battle was in full swing. Clone troopers of the Republic fought with everything they had to secure their position against the Umbaran militia. The natural bioluminesnce of the planet was no longer the only source of light, now the area was engulfed in fire and smoke, bolts of blue and green energy racing back and forth between the combatants.

Blaster fire filled the air, explosions ringing in the ears of the Clones from the repeated bombardment by the electromagnetic plasma cannons. Casualties were rising on both sides, yet neither were giving an inch, despite the wavering resolve of the Clones.

An Umbaran fighter flew to the battleground, firing off two cannons that destroyed a walker and killed more troopers. Another Clone would have been crushed by the incoming walker, had a blur not tackled him out of the way.

That blur quickly hailed the man to his feet. "Stay strong, soldier! We're not out of this yet!" Captain Rogers encouraged the Clone before setting his eyes on the fighter. The pilot sat in a chair, protected by an energy shield none of their blasters could penetrate, while the wings were a triangular-loop shape. He'd never seen anything like it, but he'd never been on an alien planet before either.

It flew over their heads when another fighter swooped down and hovered over the ground. Steve witnessed the gun on the aircraft cut through the men with no one being able to stop it, not even a walker. Advanced alien ship or not, Rogers burst from his position, watching as the fighter swept away the soldiers and walker, when he jumped through one of its looped wings, with one hand grabbing a hold, and the other swinging his shield.

The Vibranium embedded into the exhaust vents, Captain America bashing the edge of his shield into the engine three more times before feeling the craft shutter, and leapt off, rolling back to his feet and watching smoke escape the fighter as it flew up, before exploding.

"Rogers! With us!" Any triumph was halted when he heard the call of Captain Rex. Steve held out his shield and blocked any blaster bolts heading his way, drawing his P14 to fire back as he joined Rex, Fives, Jesse, Hardcase, and Dogma providing covering fire as they made it to Kix' position, getting an injured trooper to cover. Holstering his pistol, Steve joined the medic and carried the Clone behind a tree, where others rested.

"You're going to be okay, buddy. This will ease the pain." Instead of watching Kix work, Steve could only focus on the rising piles of bodies surrounding them. Briefly as he did, Steve knew these men, and they were being slaughtered. It hurt more than a blaster bolt, or any Chitauri gun.

"Our position's compromised. We need to fall back", Steve told Rex as he joined the firing line, grabbing a discarded DC-15S in one hand, the shield covering the men next to him.

"We have to wait for the general's orders", Dogma said over the blaster fire.

"We wait any longer, then the rest of those fighters will be back, and we'll be overrun!" Steve shouted at him. There was more to being a soldier than orders, you needed to improvise, adapt, overcome. Dogma had failed to grasp that concept.

"He's right, Dogma!" Fives grunted in support of the super soldier.

Only a few feet away, hiding behind cover, Krell kicked away a dead Clone in his way as he held up a holoprojector, the image of General Kenobi coming to life. "The capital city is too fortified. We need your battalion to help us take it."

"Resistance from the Umbarans has been greater than anticipated. We're holding our ground at the moment", Krell informed the Negotiator.

He was heard by the leader of the Avengers, who held on to the fact that he himself had yet to participate in the actual battle. Not to mention, they were barely holding their position as it is.

"We've gathered intel on an airbase to the west. It is resupplying the capital's defences."

"TAKE COVER!" Was heard by the Jedi and Clones before electromagnetic plasma was met by Vibranium and exploded midair.

Krell barely seemed phased, even as Steve's shield was called back to his arm, and there was something off-putting by that casualness. It was put to the back of his mind as he continued firing with the Clones of Jango Fett, aside from Rex.

The captain joined the Jedi's side, Obi-Wan continuing. "If you could capture that airbase, it will sever the capital's supply lines, allowing the rest of our forces to move in."

"I'll see to it that the airbase is placed under our control", Krell promised.

"Remember, General Krell, the entire invasion depends on your battalion."

The transmission ended, and the Clone received his orders. "Captain Rex, have those coordinates mapped and all troops ready to move out immediately.

It was the one order Rex was happy to fulfil, they can finally get out of their current killzone. "Yes, General."

Earth-1, Star City, the lair

Eliot and Oliver were circling each other, sparring with swords.

As Oliver swung, Eliot backed and swung, Oliver dodging too as their blades clashed, ringing out, while they circled each other once more.

They clashed their swords a few more times, and Oliver swung at Eliot twice, though he dodged both times while Oliver got onto the other side.

Walking forth, Oliver struck again, but Eliot blocked, and as Oliver tried to slide forwards, Eliot pushed him back, and Oliver leapt up to avoid another swing, then struck again, but Eliot blocked once more.

They swung and clashed, before Oliver kicked Eliot back, making him roll away, but he got up quickly, then struck forth as Oliver blocked a few times, then struck forth, but Eliot grabbed the blade and quickly put his own to the side of Oliver's neck, both smirking now.

They lowered their swords as Oliver asked. "How much training did you have?"

"Training was good, but I've a lot of experience in….well, everything really", Eliot explained how he was so good to the point he could match Oliver even after his training by Ra's.

"You're a very good natural fighter", Oliver complimented as he kept the sword back, then picked up his bow and quivers, the two moving towards the computers.

All of a sudden, a breach opened right on their faces, and they slipped into it, seeing some images on the way.

First, they saw what looked like Batman, though the Bat symbol on his chest had a yellow background, and his utility belt was yellow too.

Then, they saw what looked like a young boy in a red and blue suit with the spider symbol on him.

Next up, there was a tall man with long hair and a beard, wearing a sleek, well-tailored suit, and carrying a Glock 34.

Then, they saw a man in all black, including a trench coat.

And after that, they were on a street somewhere, in the middle of the day.

They were both frozen, unmoving as they tried and failed to maintain the happy expressions that were originally on their faces. Eliot, his smile becoming strained, asked. "Oliver."

"Yeah?"

"Did we go through what I think we went through?"

"I have a bad feeling he just did."

"...please don't tell me we're on another Earth."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...well?!"

"You told me not to tell you!"

"Damn it!" Eliot muttered as they looked around and walked forth. "From one world to another now!"

"This is my first trip, any pointers?" Oliver inquired, when they saw something that really shocked them.

People were singing and dancing near a shop, one man singing about the mustard being taken off his shirt.

"….Are you seeing this?" Oliver asked Eliot.

"Yeah, still trying to believe though", Eliot muttered. "Is this a musical world?"

They walked past the singing and dancing people, looking at the name of the shop- 'Magic Box'.

Some singing could be heard from in there too, and curious, they opened the door, walking in to see a group consisting of an aged man, and some barely adult people- a blonde woman, a red-haired woman, a brown-haired woman, a woman with short curly hair, and a brunette man.

The one with the curly hair was singing some kind of rock song while playing air guitar and shaking her hips, and then she ended it lamely on seeing the new people and the rest staring at her.

"Or maybe midgets…"

Eliot's eyes widened as he remembered he'd met this woman's doppelganger too- Meredith. She was running the little 'Black Widow' scam on rich bachelors.

As they watched, the red-haired woman quickly sat down beside the aged man and opened a book. "I've got a theory we should work this fast."

They sang together. "Because it clearly could get serious before it's passed."

The aged man started walking up the stairs when the blonde woman sang behind him. "I've got a theory", he turned around as she sang, "it doesn't matteeeeeer."

She looked at them all and sang. "What can't we face if we're together? What's in this place that we can't weather. Apocalypse? We've all been there. The same old trips, why should we care?"

As the entire group sang together, Eliot and Oliver found themselves joining too. "What can't we do if we get in it?"

The blonde woman turned to the aged man who joined in too. "We'll work it through within a minute. We have to try, we'll pay the price. It's do or die."

She then sang. "Hey I've died twice."

Eliot and Oliver shared a look, the latter thinking of Sara, as the group stood up. "What can't we face if we're together?"

The aged man smiled, still looking reluctant. "What can't we face?"

The rest sang together. "What's in this place that we can't weather?"

The aged man added. "If we're together."

And then all of them sang together. "There's nothing we can't face."

The curly-haired woman then sat down, singing the last line.

"Except for bunnies."

And then, they looked at the two newcomers, as the blonde asked. "Now who are you two?"

"Uhh…." Eliot muttered. "I think we're lost, and now everyone is singing and dancing."

"Lost how?" The red-haired one inquired.

"Would you believe us if we told you?" Oliver asked her.

"I mean, you did see us doing a musical, right?" The brown-haired woman pointed out.

"She has a point", Eliot told Oliver.

"You know what? Let's check", the red-haired woman said as she took out a device, then held it out at the two of them while activating it, and it beeped loudly. "So you two are from other worlds."

"This device can tell that?" Oliver asked in surprise.

"Yeah, me and a friend of mine had a world hopping experience a while ago, the two guys we met there had something like this, so we made it too", the blonde woman explained. "I'm guessing you two know about the other worlds stuff too."

"More than I'd like", Eliot said with a groan. "And what's this about everyone singing and dancing?"

"Something's up with the town, people are singing and dancing randomly", the brunette man told them.

"Must be bunnies", the curly-hair woman muttered.

"Whatever it is", the aged man walked to them. "Let us make introductions. I'm Rupert Giles."

"Eliot Spencer", Eliot gave his introduction, then looked to Oliver, who looked a bit reluctant. "This is a different world and you're not in your suit anyways."

Oliver nodded, realizing Eliot had a point. "My name is Oliver Queen."

"Willow Rosenberg", the red-haired one introduced herself.

"And I'm Tara Maclay", the brown-haired one added, sharing a look with Willow. "We're Witches."

"So you can do magic", Oliver realized, thinking of Constantine in that moment.

"Name's Xander Harris", Xander gave his own introduction.

"You look like someone we know", Eliot noted to Xander, sharing a look with Oliver, as they remember Cray's assistant.

"Really? Cool."

"Anya Jenkins", Anya gave her introduction. "And I run this shop."

Then the blonde finally introduced herself. "I am Buffy Summers, the Vampire Slayer."

Oliver and Eliot shared a weird look at the name, then shrugged, as Eliot asked. "You kill Vampires then?"

"Vampires, and other Demons, because I'm chosen to do it", Buffy said with a sigh.

"Right", Eliot muttered, Oliver thinking about just how many supernatural things were real in different parts of the Multiverse, like Vampires here.

'I wonder what else isreal', he though to himself.

Oliver then asked. "So, do you know of any way we could get back to our world?"

"Not really, last time, a breach randomly opened to bring us back", Buffy explained. "Sorry."

"Its fine", Eliot assured her.

"Now, the friends we'd met in that other world ended up here too, they're going around this town, trying to find who is behind this singing and dancing", Buffy explained

"I guess while we're here, we'll have to do that as well", Oliver told Eliot, who gave a nod.

"In case you're wondering, it's the whole town", Eliot added to the Scoobies. "Some guy was singing about the mustard on his shirt being washed off."

"Oh my God! People are singing about that and not money?" Anya wondered randomly.

Then the door opened, and a young teenage girl walked in, smiling. "Oh my god. You will never believe what happened at school today."

Buffy asked. "Everybody started singing and dancing?"

The girl looked disappointed. "I gave birth to a pterodactyl."

Anya asked. "Oh my god, did it sing?"

The girl suddenly saw Oliver and Eliot, and gasped. "Whoa! Sorry, you two scared me."

"There's no need to be scared", Eliot assured the girl, his 'friend to all kids' side suddenly coming into play.

"Guys, this is my younger sister, Dawn", Buffy introduced her. "Dawn, these two are visitors from other worlds- Eliot Spencer, and Oliver Queen."

"Oh my God!" Dawn looked excited now. "You two are from other worlds? Because that's really cool."

"Doesn't feel cool", Oliver muttered.

"So, you guys were singing too, huh?" Dawn then asked the Scoobies.

"What did you sing about?" Xander inquired.

"Math", Dawn said with a sigh as she sat down, putting down her backpack. She then looked at the counter, seeing a necklace lying there, which Eliot noticed too.

Willow whispered in Tara's ear and she loudly said. "Tha-That's right! The, the volume. The text."

Giles asked. "What text?"

Willow said. "The volume-y text. You know? The, the", she mumbled, "report."

Xander was confused. "The what now?"

Tara clarified. "Oh, there's just a few volumes back at the house that deal with mystical chants, bacchanals."

Eliot and Oliver shared a look, figuring out what they were really up to.

Tara said. "It might be relevant."

Willow added. "Yeah, we could, um-"

Giles said. "Well, I'm a hair's breadth from investigating bunnies at the moment, so I'm open to anything."

"I think you two should go and research whatever you want", Eliot told the two of them.

Willow said. "Great, we'll, uh, go check it out and uh, we'll give you a call."

"Yeah, this could blow the whole thing wide open", Tara said as they both got up and left together.

"You know", Oliver started. "We can try to find out the cause behind this too while we're here."

"Yeah, we're gonna go out and look, if we see anything, we'll let you all know", Eliot agreed, before looking at Buffy. "And before we go, what's the name of the two guys from the other world looking into this?"

"Oh! They're called Dean and Sam Winchester, they're brothers", Buffy said, and the two nodded before walking out.

Later

Willow and Tara walked through a park. It was sunny and beautiful with green grass, blue sky, etc. as Tara asked. "Do we have any books at all at home?"

Willow replied to her. "Well, who wants to be cooped up on a day like this? The sun is shining, there's songs going on..."

A couple of young men walked by and looked at Willow and Tara as they passed as Willow finished. "...those guys are checking you out."

"What?" Tara turned to look. "Wh-What are they looking at?"

Willow said the obvious. "The hotness of you, doofus."

"Those boys really thought I was hot?" Tara looked back at them again.

"Entirely."

"Oh my god. I'm cured! I want the boys!" Tara joked and made like she was going to run after the guys as Willow grabbed her and pulled her back. Tara giggled happily.

Willow joked. "Do I have to fight to keep you? 'Cause I'm not large with the butch."

They stood underneath a tree, leaning on a wooden railing as Tara honestly said. "I'm just ... not used to that. They-they were really looking at me?"

Willow fondly assured her. "And you can't imagine what they see in you."

"I know exactly what they see in me", Tara said as she looked into Willow's eyes. "You."

She then burst into song.

"I lived my life in shadow. Never the sun on my face. It didn't seem so sad, though. I figured that was my place."

Willow watched with a sad smile, thinking about the abuse Tara had suffered at the hands of her father and brother before coming to Sunnydale. To her.

Tara then walked out from the shade, lifting her face into the sun. "Now I'm bathed in light." She looked at Willow with a confident and happy smile. "Something just isn't right."

She then spun and leaned on the railing as Willow's smile now turned happy.

"I'm under your spell. How else could it be, anyone would notice me?"

"It's magic, I can tell", Willow and Tara were then on the bridge over a little stream. "How you set me free. Brought me out so easily."

Tara then took Willow's hand and they walked off the bridge onto a path, holding hands as Tara continued. "I saw a world enchanted. Spirits and charms in the air." She made a gesture with her arm and sparkles appeared, following her hand with a tinkling noise.

"I always took for granted. I was the only one there."

Willow made some even more impressive sparkles with her hand, ending in a small shower of sparks surrounding them both. They smiled at each other.

"But your power shone. Brighter than any I've known."

Tara spun away to a small pond at the edge of the grass as Willow smiled. Tara then began to dance, doing gestures with her arms and spinning.

"I'm under your spell. Nothing I can do. You just took my soul with you."

Two women who were sunbathing then got up and started dancing behind Tara, copying her moves as they spun their arms.

"You worked your charm so well. Finally, I knew. Everything I dreamed was true."

She held out her arms with a smile as Willow came to her.

"You make me belieeeeeeeve!"

They spun, holding each other by the arms while the sunbathers sang in the background. "Aaaaah, aaaaaaah!"

Willow and Tara were then in their bedroom, looking at each other lovingly as the'aaah, aaaah'in the background continued.

"The moon to the tide. I can feel you inside."

Tara lay down on the bed. "I'm under your spell. Surging like the sea." Willow leaned over her with a smile.

"Pulled to you so helplessly. I break with every swell."

Willow moved downwards, removing Tara's panties as she started pleasing her with her mouth, and Tara felt the pleasure course through her body.

"Lost in ecstasy. Spread beneath my willow tree. You make me belieeeeeve!"

Tara's body then slowly rose and hovered over the bed as Willow continued what she was doing, making her sing in pure bliss.

"You make me com-plete. You make me com-plete. You make me com-plete. You make me-"

Universe-208, Umbara

When the 501st legion finally laid eyes on the airbase, it was much closer than they ever were to the capital city, allowing them to see the lone tower's similar structure and radiating the same kind of light aura. Clones and volunteer made the trek down the steep slope into the gorge as Captain Rex waited for the men to gather, the ARC Trooper and his fellow captain on either side of him. When the troopers and walkers were assembled, Rex informed them of the orders. Much like before, he was heavily against them, but he had little choice in the matter. No matter how hard he tried, there was no changing the Besalisk General's mind or his strategies. He was thankful that Steve was not present, otherwise what happened after the ambush would happen again.

Morale was low, they only fought on because it was their duty. Krell knew or didn't care. If Steve interfered again, it'd only be harder for Rex to protect him against a temperamental leader like Krell. Without a Jedi fighting with them, they needed Captain Steve Rogers.

Now, it was time for the brothers, aside from Fives, to learn of their orders.

"All right, listen up. We'll assemble the squads into two divisions. We'll move straight up this gorge towards the airbase at the far side." Now, he had to deal with the fallback.

"The casualties are going to be high", Kix spoke out first, which did not surprise Rex in the slightest.

"Is Krell trying to get us killed?" Tup surprised Rex, but that's how deep the mistrust was blooming. The Captain couldn't say the shiny was wrong, but Krell had a point, they were running out of time.

Jesse, one of the most experienced in the 501st picked it up. "You know, I wasn't sure that Krell was crazy before, but now, I'm positive."

Movement to Rex' right had him look and found Fives speaking next. This was not good. "We had to retreat from the capital because the general pushed a flawed strategy. Now this?" Rex met his brother's eyes, and he saw the anger. He understood it too well.

"I don't know. Could be fun." Hardcase, of course, lived for the fight, not that it eased any worries.

"Well, I for one agree with the general's plan." Dogma, the only Clone to agree with Krell. For all the wrong reasons. "We're running out of time, and this is the best option."

"No recon? No air support? We don't know what we're up against. They have weapons we've never seen before."

There was no dispute with Jesse's words, but they'd dealt with tough situations before, Rex knew, he was usually in the thick of it. "A few of General Skywalker's plans seemed reckless too, but they worked."

"Yeah, but General Skywalker is usually leading his men up in the front, not bringing up the rear like General Krell." Rex frowned at Fives. He was only making it worse. "A full-forward assault would leave us too exposed."

"What do you say, Steve?" Kix asked, and Rex's eyes, along with that of half the 501st, turned to the one man who tried to remain silent.

With his arms crossed and head down, Steve did his best to stay out of the conversation. He had so many things he wanted to say to Krell, but doing so would only put Rex in the firing line, and if not him, it could backfire for the rest of the men. So, Steve held his tongue for the sake of morale and helping his fellow captain. However, his head snapped up and found the eyes and visors of the legion focused on him. The super soldier found Rex pleading with him silently, while the rest were eager to hear his input.

Sighing, Steve unfolded his arms and walked forward, standing tall as he could. "On my world, in my country's army, we had a motto: "This we'll defend." It would refer to protecting our home against those who would seek it harm. For more than two hundred years, that motto remained, and the message stayed true. However," Steve looked into the eyes and visors of every Clone would meet his gaze, "I always had a different interpretation. I would defend each and every man I fight with, as they would for me. The odds are against us, there is no denying that. The strategy is flawed, no denying that either. What I will not deny is that the lives of others, your brothers, depend on us." That sent a wave of muttering through the ranks. Rex and Fives were watching him closely, Steve noted as he continued. "Elsewhere, the other battalions are fighting the same fight, they need us. Time is not on our side, but we don't need it. As long as each of us stand together, there's little we can't do. We lost a lot of men, but today we have a chance to bring this fight to an end. Defend your brothers, look out for each other, and remember," Steve looked out across the crowd of men and vowed, "I'll have your back, and you have mine."

Turning his head, he found Rex smiling at him gratefully, Fives was sterner, but he nodded approvingly. The captain beckoned Steve and Fives over, and the trio walked a distance away from the rest of the legion.

Jesse turned to Dogma while rest of the men talked amongst each other. "Now THAT is leadership."

"Good speech. For a moment, I forgot who was in command", Fives acknowledged when they came to a halt, clapping the volunteer's shoulder.

"I appreciate what you did, Steve. We needed it." Rex thanked him, relaxing ever slightly.

However, Steve shook his head. "The men need hope, and all Krell is giving them is an early grave. I just wanted to ease their worries, however I can."

"That's why I called you both here. It would help if you eased their minds", Rex said, particularly to Fives.

"Oh, you mean coax them into following another one of Krell's suicide missions? We lost a lot of men last time." Fives withheld the loss he felt from the battle. He's lost enough brothers where the pain was numb and he could fight on.

It doesn't mean he doesn't still feel the grief.

Rex pointed at the ARC Trooper. "Krell may do things differently, but he is effective in getting them done. He's a recognized war hero."

"At the cost of how many lives?" Steve did not want to go against Rex, but it needed to be said.

"More troopers have been killed under his command than anyone else", Fives told them both, and it confirmed what Steve feared. Krell IS a butcher. If this campaign was any indication, the general did not even have the courage to lead those men himself. It made Steve clench his fists at the thought.

A sigh of resignation escaped the veteran of the 501st. "That's the price of war, Fives. We're soldiers. We have a duty to follow orders and if we must, lay down our lives for victory."

It pained Steve to see Rex admit this. The grooming he and the rest of the Clones went through, it truly took away their freedom to choose any life but this.

Rex tried to leave, but Fives grabbed his arm. "Do you believe that? Or is that what you were engineered to think?"

"I honor my code. That's what I believe."

"You're not a machine, Rex. You have a choice." Steve tried to reach the captain, but he only glanced over his shoulder.

"I made it." He was gone, and Steve could only close his eyes and exhale. Rex and how many more accepted their fates? No matter how hard Steve tried, he could not escape that feeling of despair at hearing it.

Steve and Fives remained that way for a few moments, before the Clone's hand grasped the Avenger's shoulder, bringing his attention to the armored soldier. "Thank you, for trying."

"There's more to being a soldier than following orders."

Fives grunted in agreement. "On Kamino, we're told "good soldiers follow orders". It stuck with some of us more than others."

Steve felt the need to defend Rex. "He's torn between loyalty to the chain of command and the men. It's not easy for him when he's the one having to enforce the orders."

A sigh escaped the trooper. The other soldier was right. "Suppose you're right." Fives wanted to shift away from the topic and found a way when his eyes found the piece on Steve's waist. "How many rounds you got left in that thing?"

"A mag, at most." The last thing Steve prepared for was to fight a giant ape-monster with an ice man and metal man before being transported to another planet during an intergalactic war. If he did, he would have packed more ammo.

"Here." Reaching down to his holster on his left, disconnecting from his armor, Fives offered it to the captain. "You'll need this."

Steve tried to wave him off. "No, I can't-"

"It's a DC-17, the best friend you can have in a firefight. Besides, I have a spare." Fives kept holding out the blaster.

One part of Steve did not wish to take one of Fives' weapons when he may need it, but the practical part of Steve's brain told him that he needed a sidearm that won't run out of ammo in the next battle. The blaster had a better firing capacity, range, and had ammo available among the legion. No one used "slugthrowers" on the planet, he learned.

With hesitation, Steve took the holstered weapon and nodded at the ARC Trooper. "Thank you, Fives."

"Don't mention it." The Clone shrugged before taking out a pouch like the one he and Rex wore across their chest plates. "Gas cannisters, you'll need them." Steve smiled and took the ammunition for the blaster pistols too. Fives returned the smile as they walked back to the rest of the men. "Think of it as us having your back, like you have ours."

Earth-92, Sunnydale, Night time

The Impala sped through the streets of Sunnydale, Sam and Dean in the front seats. The night was filled with tension as they searched for the reason behind the musical mayhem, as well as any monsters that were causing trouble.

Suddenly, a guitar song started playing out of nowhere as Sam started singing."On the road, beneath the moon's pale light, we hunt the creatures of the night. From the very start, our journey was grim, Saving people, hunting things – that's our Winchester hymn."

Dean gripped the steering wheel as they spotted a group of Demons lurking on a street corner. He revved the engine, and Sam prepared his weapon.

The two sang together. "We're the hunters, the brothers, Fighting evil like no others. From Azazel's flames to Lucifer's cage, Our lives are filled with rage."

Sam fires his gun at the approaching demons, taking out a couple, while Dean mowed down others with the Impala, making sure they ended up beneath it, and did not touch the hood of the car or anything else.

As the Demons were taken out, Dean sang. "Dad taught us well, raised us right, to face the darkness, to stand and fight. Yellow eyes and demons in disguise, we've seen it all, heard the victims' cries."

They continued to drive, scanning the streets for any sign of trouble.

The two sang together once more. "We're the hunters, the brothers, fighting evil like no others. From haunted houses to haunted hearts, We'll tear those demons apart."

The Impala screeched to a halt as a small group of vampires blocked the road. Sam and Dean jumped out of the car, weapons ready.

Sam sang. "From the Woman in White to the Croatoan virus, we've faced it all, can't deny us. Through Heaven and Hell, we've been through it all, with our backs against the wall."

During the song, Sam staked one Vampire, then got punched by another, only for Dean to stake it, before the two punched a Vamp back together, then saw another charge, as they staked one each.

And during that time, they sang together. "We're the hunters, the brothers, Fighting evil like no others. From Crossroad deals to Angel's grace, we'll never slow the pace."

With the vampires defeated, Sam and Dean returned to the Impala and continued driving.

Dean was singing again. "Inevery town and every fight, we'll keep on hunting through the night. Though the weight of the world's on our shoulders, we'll keep fighting, as hunters and brothers."

They drove off into the night, the roar of the Impala's engine fading as they continued their hunt.

Both sang together once more."We're the hunters, the brothers, Fighting evil like no others. From demon deals to breaking the seal, This is the life that's real."

As they drove into the distance, the song faded away, the two sharing a look, when suddenly they saw a small group of people dancing so fast they were burning right in front of them.

"What the…?" Dean stopped the vehicle as they got out, running to the people, while in another direction, Oliver and Eliot saw the sight too, and ran towards them, only for the people to burst into flames and combust until they were gone.

"Whoa!" Sam said in surprise, before they looked at each other, and Dean and Sam seemed to recognize them.

"Lee?" Dean asked Eliot in shock. "Been a while man."

"Who is Lee?" Eliot asked in confusion, making Dean confused too.

"Your name's not Lee?" Dean inquired.

"No, I'm Eliot Spencer", Eliot said with a shrug. "Guess I've a doppelganger as well."

"What are you doing here, Oliver?" Sam asked Oliver.

"You know me?" Oliver was surprised. "Because I don't know either of you."

"That's weird", Dean had to say.

"Maybe there's a you on their world", Eliot shrugged to Oliver, before looking at Sam and Dean. "Are you Sam and Dean?"

"How did you know?" Sam inquired.

"Buffy told us about you", Oliver revealed. "Like you, we're from other worlds, and got stranded here ourselves."

"Right", Dean muttered, then looked at Eliot. "There's a guy who looks like you on my Earth. He is called Lee, one of the best hunters I've seen." He looked at the bow and arrow in Oliver's hands. "Your doppelganger is a hunter too, and has a specialty for bow and arrows. Teamed up with him once. He was good."

Oliver nodded, then looked at the burnt-up people. "It looks like the dancing caused this."

"Meaning this is not gonna be the happy kind of musical", Sam sighed. "We'll have to find the one behind this quickly. And stop any more people from burning to death too."

"That's correct, let's see if there are any others nearby and stop them", Eliot added, the others agreeing.

Earth-199999, Navajo Nation

Rambo moved through the forests, his bow and arrow in hand, and his other weapons on his person as well. He'd agreed to return and hunt whatever creature was doing this pretty quickly.

As Chayton had said, his mother used to be one of them. And even he was part of them because of that. Not to mention, they'd raised him as much as his parents had.

They were the ones who'd taught him how to use the bow and arrow, a weapon that he continued to use even until today.

He owed this to them, including those who'd gone missing and died.

While tracking the creature, Rambo had found some big tracks as well, though he could tell that some of them belonged to a grizzly bear pretty much.

Rambo did not think a grizzly bear of all things would do stuff like this, but he needed to cover all his bases anyways.

Soon enough, he stepped out of the woods, looking down from a low cliff at the stream below. The tracks were visible in the wet dirt by the bank.

Rambo looked up ahead, seeing a grizzly bear moving towards a Beaver Dam. He looked at the grass at the stream's side, and so far, the wind was bending it back towards him.

He kept his eyes on the target, seeing the bear near the Beaver Dam, sniffing it.

Rambo simply watched the bear for now. He did not believe it could be what he was hunting, but he decided to watch it, in case he was wrong.

Then, to his shock, the wind shifted, and the bear sniffed, before seeing him. Roaring, it began to charge him, heading up the steep incline towards him.

Rambo quickly backed off, nocking an arrow as he aimed at the bear while continuing to fall back. He then slid down the slope at the other end, getting down, as the bear came after him again, and he fired.

His aim was true, but the arrow didn't do anything to the bear, so Rambo sprinted down the stream, reaching the Beaver Dam and diving under and in.

Pulling himself farther in, Rambo turned around on his back, seeing the tangled nest of heavy branches that formed the dam. The grizzly snorted and sniffed, then its paw tore at the dam.

Knowing what he had to do, Rambo took out another arrow, before taking out a small vial, dipping the arrow in something, as the bear continued to create a huge gap with its paw, its jaw snapping open.

Then, it stepped back, as the surprised Rambo peered out, the bear now snarling and circling, facing off against someone, but who? The beast went up on its hind legs and roared.

As Rambo struggled to gain vantage, the huge bear crashed backwards into the water, then leapt back up to its feet - swiping at the air. Glowing GREEN BLOOD MARKS appeared - floating where the bear's claws scratched the invisible creature's skin.

The creature, still cloaked, crashes down into the stream. The bear moved around it - blocking Rambo's view. Then suddenly the huge bear backed up. It moves closer and closer to Rambo, who retreats back from the hole in the dam while holding up his tranquilizer arrow. The bear crashed backwards down onto the dam, smashing the structure apart.

The huge animal was still.

Dead.

Rambo stared into its lifeless jaws. Then suddenly, the bear's body rose. The enormous animal floated, suspended in the air above the shattered dam. Rambo watches as the bear's blood ran down, revealing what was holding up its carcass- an invisible creature, seemingly cloaked by something, its outline made visible by the bear's blood.

Rambo stared for a bit, realizing he was outmatched right now, so he turned and scrambled through the wrecked dam, fleeing. He submerged into the stream - popping up outside of the dam, and paddled downstream.

Swimming hard, Rambo moved away from the dam. He ended up into a river, where the water was moving very quickly, and knowing these waters, he let himself be swept along, until reaching a spot where the water was more mellow.

His head popped up above the waterline. He inhaled deeply, swimming towards the bank.

Eventually, he stepped out, back into the woods, and walked head stealthily. The light that filtered through the tree tops was dappled and diffused.

Whatever this creature was, it was responsible for the massacres, and it was stronger than a grizzly bear. Plus, it had something that cloaked it and made it invisible.

Meaning Rambo needed a lot of planning before he could take this creature on. Like the previous creature, he needed tricks and traps.

He just hoped this creature proved a little less difficult than the other one. If it was not, well, he'd have to take on it either way.

As he looked around, he saw some flowers with orange petals, and a rare smile crossed his face, remembering a time his mother had shown him these 'tutsia' flowers.

Universe-208, Umbara

"Just let me take a look at it."

"No, it's fine. Save it for the men who actually need it." Steve again waved off Kix from checking his shoulder. Blaster bolts hurt like hell, he learned, but so did bullets, and blasts from Chitauri guns. The pain faded away sometime ago, and Steve believed it was beginning to heal.

Regardless of his assurances, Kix was determined. "And what if you need it?"

Steve was grateful for the concern but couldn't help but smirk. "Super soldier, remember? I heal fast."

"Try not to sound so smug about it", Jesse said on his other side as they continued to march. To say they were happy to get away from the road to the capital was an understatement. Still, the air was heavy with the failure they had endured because of the flawed strategy of Krell's.

They lost a lot of men, so many that it took him back to the beach at Normandy.

That reminded him.

Steve's face lost its humor and he turned to the medic. "Ringo, Greer, did they pull through?" The two Clones he carried out of the ambush on the road.

Kix was silent. Steve assumed the worst until he finally spoke. "Greer survived, thanks to you, but Ringo was already gone." He tried to hope, but it just shattered. A new pain swelled in Steve, making him closes his eyes in grief. "A lot more would have been killed if not for you." Kix tried to comfort the man, and it was true. Without Steve and his shield, his fighting ability and stunning efficiency with a blaster, they would have been taken by surprise by the Umbarans' mines and been overwhelmed, more brothers would join Ringo.

"You saved our necks. Don't beat yourself up about it", Jesse encouraged him.

"I just wish I could've done more", Steve grieved. It was not the first time he felt this way, and while he accepted that he could not save everyone, Bucky's fall flashing in his mind before being replaced by the Winter Soldier, it did not make it any less painful.

"You did more than we could have asked, Steve." Fives' voice was heard before they turned their heads to see him coming.

"Steve? What happened to shiny?"

"What I saw back there, you are definitely no shiny." The praise was flattering, and Steve was humbled. Fives turned his visor forward, where the Besalisk walked with Rex near him. "But if there was anyone that could have done more, it would be our "great General"."

"Agreed", Jesse almost growled out, Kix didn't speak, but he was of the same mind. Steve, looking at the back of the four-armed alien while memories of Anakin's blue blade deflecting blaster bolts alongside his men came to mind, sided with the Clones.

"You know, when you pushed me out of the way, I thought you were actually going to fight Krell", Fives recalled, it made the two other Clones and those eavesdropping look at the non-Clone, and were surprised by the stoicism on his face.

"I nearly did."

Earth-21

Superman was flying in the air, having saved two people from drowning a few seconds ago. The recent meeting with Batman aka Bruce Wayne was still in his mind.

The man was dark, grim and violent, but his heart was in the right place, and he'd saved his life as well, in spite of their rough start. And there was also his sidekick Nightwing.

He was glad to have more allies to depend upon now.

That moment, a breach suddenly opened on his face and he ended up flying through it, seeing a few images.

First thing he saw was a being on a flying creature that looked like a Dragon. The being had a crown, but it did not rest on any head, and that was really creepy.

Next up, he saw a person in a blue skintight bodysuit.

After that, there was a young boy in brown robes, having a blue arrow symbol on his bald forehead.

Then, there was a handsome man in a blue suit with yellow pads and belt and a cape that resembled his own suit, though there was no 'S' symbol, and the smile this man was giving, Clark just felt something off from it, as if it was fake, for show.

After that, there was another man in a white and red suit with white boots and a red cape that also made the suit resemble his own, and he had a moustache as well. But like the previous guy, Clark felt something off from this one as well.

Then, there was another man in a white and grey suit resembling his own, with a black belt, and a 'M' symbol on the middle, and a cape, which also made the suit resemble his. Unlike the previous two, Clark did not feel anything off from this one.

After that, there was a Demonic being with long hair, having strange markings on his face, as well as a long scar from the top right of his forehead to his left cheek.